Stormy start to the second half of Budget Session

New Delhi, April 22: The Lok Sabha was on Monday adjourned till Tuesday after uproar over various issues including rape incidents, statehood for Telangana and the unrest in West Bengal over Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee being heckled.

The Cabinet Committee on Investment has cleared 25 out of 31 oil & gas blocks for exploration.

The decision was taken in a meeting under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh this evening in Delhi.

It was a stormy start to the second part of the Budget session of Parliament today.

Members from various parties forced repeated adjournments in Lok Sabha on various issues, including heckling of Mamata Banerjee in Delhi, incidents of rapes and demand for separate Telangana state.

As commotion continued for the entire day, Deputy Speaker Kariya Munda adjourned the House till tomorrow.

Rajya Sabha too witnessed uproar as Parliament reconvened after a four-week recess.

Members hotly debated rules for taking up a motion for adjournment of Question Hour to discuss government's alleged interference in preparing the CBI report on allocation of coal blocks.

Question Hour and Zero Hour were a casualty in the Upper House, which saw heated arguments on holding a discussion on alleged interference in CBI functioning on alleged coal block allocation scam issue and putting the motion to vote in this regard.

The House saw three adjournments before lunch with government agreeing to discuss the issue, but opposition remained adamant on calling the Law Minister in the House and seeking suo motu statements from both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Law Minister Ashwani Kumar on the issue.

The motion moved by V Maitreyan of AIADMK on suspension of Question Hour for a discussion on the issue was later rendered infructuous by Deputy Chairman P J Kurien saying the matter ended at 12 noon with the Question Hour.

Chairman Hamid Ansari earlier admitted Maitreyan's notice for moving the motion from among the eight notices received.

He had put the motion to voice vote but no division of votes could take place amid the din, as Dr. Ansari adjourned the House for 30 minutes.

Earlier, too the House was adjourned for 15 minutes on the issue.

While Mr. Maitreyan demanded that the Law Minister be "summoned" in the House and asked to explain his position on alleged interference in the CBI report, Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley said government should make a suo motu statement on the issue if it has nothing to hide.

While Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said government is ready for a discussion on the issue but would take up the discussion on atrocities on women first as allowed by the Chairman.

The coal issue was raised right from the time the House met as Treasury benches stoutly opposed a move to take up the motion for suspending Question Hour.

Opposition members from BJP and AIADMK trooped into the Well raising slogans like "We want Justice".

In the post-lunch sitting, Rajya Sabha took up an impromptu discussion on the gruesome rape of the Delhi child.

A sense of shock and anger resonated in the Upper House as members cutting across party lines pressed for stern action, including death penalty, to deal with such crimes even if it needs a relook at the new anti-rape law.

Members also suggested an all-party meeting to find ways of tackling such crimes more effectively.

Initiating the debate, BJP leader Maya Singh referring to the latest rape incident in East Delhi said the accused should be given "immediate death penalty.

She said the new anti-rape bill should be relooked, if required, to make it further stringent.

BSP chief Mayawati stressed that there is a need to rise above party politics to curb rising rape incidents.

She said police reforms are required for effective enforcement of law.

Prabha Thakur of Congress demanded the accused should be hanged and an all-party meeting called on this issue.

Nominated member Javed Akhtar said it would not be proper to blame western culture, cinema and liberalisation for the problem.

He added that the real issue lies in the way women are treated in India where female foeticide is rampant and "gender prejudice" is profound.

V Maitreyan from AIADMK lashed out at government for the rising crime graph against women saying government does not have the will to implement the law in letter and spirit.

Gundu Sudha Rani of TDP demanded death penalty for rape convict, while Najma Heptulla of BJP said a rape committed by a juvenile should be treated as a crime by an adult and death penalty awarded to them.

Sanjay Raut Shiv Sena, Sashi Bhusan Behera BJP, Rajani Patil Congress, A A Zinnah DMK, Dr Ashok Ganguly Nominated, Md Adeeb Ind, Smriti Irani BJP, Alka Balram Kshatriya Cong, Birendra Prasad Baishya AGP, M Rama Jois BJP, Shivanand Tiwari JD-U and Sitaram Yechury CPI-M also participated in the discussion.