Karnataka crisis rocks RS
| Date :10-Jul-2019 |
NEW DELHI:
THE Rajya Sabha on Tuesday witnessed uproar over the Karnataka crisis with Opposition Congress members storming the well of the House and raising slogans, leading to adjournment of proceedings for the day. The Upper House witnessed protests by members of Congress, TMC, CPI and CPI(M) as soon as it reconvened at 2 PM following two adjournments earlier in the day. The House was adjourned within three minutes as ruckus prevailed. Deputy Chairman Harivansh, who was chairing the proceedings, made repeated appeals to protesting members to return to their seats, observing that the House has to discuss the Union Budget 2019-20 and Congress leader P Chidambaram was slated to speak on the issue. However, as protests continued, he adjourned the House for the day.
The Congress has been accusing the ruling BJP at the Centre of instigating a rebellion within the Congress-JD(S) Government in Karnataka. The year-old Congress-Janata Dal (S) coalition Government in Karnataka is on the brink of collapse after a spate of resignations by MLAs. The Karnataka Assembly has 225 members, including one nominated MLA. The halfway mark in the 225-member Assembly is 113. Earlier in the day, the House was adjourned till 2 PM after protests by Congress members continued.
Within minutes of Assembly of the House, Congress members stormed into the well shouting slogans that implied that democracy was being killed in reference to developments in Karnataka. TMC members too trooped into the well against privatisation of public sector units, forcing Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to adjourn proceedings till 1200 hours. When the House re-assembled at noon to take up the Question Hour, there were almost similar scenes with slogan shouting Congress and TMC members trooping in the Well. Harivansh, who was chairing the proceedings at the time, made repeated efforts to persuade protesting members to return to their seats so that the Question Hour could be conducted. However, his appeals went unheeded and the House was adjourned till 2 pm.
Before adjourning the House till 2 PM, he told protesting Congress members that the Chairman had allowed them to raise the Karnataka issue during the Zero Hour, but it was not availed. OPPN WALKS OUT OF LS: Major Opposition parties, including the Congress and the DMK, on Tuesday stormed out of the Lok Sabha over the political crisis in Karnataka where several Congress and JD-S MLAs have quit, putting the coalition Government in a crisis. The House was plunged into an uproar when a Congress request to raise the issue during Zero Hour was not allowed by Speaker Om Birla. Amid Congress protests, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the members cannot give notice on a matter that had already been raised in the House.