Parliament Winter Session: Rajya Sabha adjourned till tomorrow; ruckus stalls Sachin Tendulkar’s debut speech

Parliament Winter Session: Rajya Sabha adjourned till tomorrow; ruckus stalls Sachin Tendulkar’s debut speech New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 11 am tomorrow after Congress leaders asked the BJP to come clear on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks against his predecessor Manmohan Singh and the saffron party’s smear campaign against the UPA in the 2G spectrum case, as MP Sachin Tendulkar gets up to speak.

A Delhi court on Thursday acquitted all the accused including DMK leaders — former Telecom Minister A. Raja and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi — in the alleged multi-thousand crore rupee 2G spectrum scandal in which there were claims it caused the state exchequer a loss of Rs 1,76,379 crore. Soon after the House met for the day, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad raised the two issues.

“Till yesterday (Wednesday) we had been demanding the Prime Minister’s clarification on his remarks against Manmohan Singhji but today another incident took place and now we want clarification on both the issues,” Azad said.

“They should now prove on which basis they had alleged that there was scandal of Rs 1.76 lakh crore. Through false campaign an environment against UPA was created and was the reason we are here in the opposition benches and you are there in treasury benches,” he said.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said that the Prime Minister could not come in the House if such ruckus continue on a daily basis. Modi usually comes to Rajya Sabha on Thursdays for a while as questions related to the Prime Minister’s Office are listed. The Chairman asked Azad to stop as he had not given any prior notice over the issue but he continued.

“You can’t raise any issue without giving a proper notice. I can’t go beyond the rules. House functions according to rules. If there is something serious the House will take it as priority,” Naidu said as the agitating members trooped near Chairman’s podium.

The Congress also raised the 2G verdict, saying the court judgment vindicated the UPA’s stand that there was no scam in the allocation of spectrum and licences to telecom companies. Naidu asked the agitating members to maintain the dignity of the House and to respect the democratic principles.