The Telangana issue disrupted Parliament on the first day of the last session of current Lok Sabha on Wednesday, leading to adjournment of the Lok Sabha till Thursday. The Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm.
MPs from Seemandhra region, cutting across parties, stormed the Well of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as soon as houses assembled for the day. The MPs carried placards saying ‘Jai Samaikya Andhra Pradesh’ (hail united Andhra Pradesh).
The government had announced that it will take up in the Rajya Sabha the Bill to carve out a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh.
In the Lok Sabha, some members mentioned the death of a student from North East in Delhi with Left MPs demanding action against the culprits. They carried posters saying ‘Stop racial discrimination against North Eastern people’
Shiromani Akali Dal members utilised the occasion to target Congress on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the wake of renewed controversy on the issue following a television interview by Rahul Gandhi. They wanted day-to-day trial of pending cases against Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler.
Speaker Meira Kumar repeatedly appealed to members to maintain calm and allow smooth conduct of the House, reminding them that it was the last session of the 15th Lok Sabha. As her pleas went unheeded, she adjourned the House till noon.
Earlier, the House condoled the demise of four former members — M M Hashim, P K Ghosh, Deepak Kumar and Pius Tirkey. Death and killings of people in various accidents, including the boat tragedy in Andaman, and terror attacks in Russia were also condoled.
The session, which began on Wednesday, is the second phase of the Winter Session of Parliament. It is set to conclude on February 21.
