New Delhi:
Lawmakers in the Rajya Sabha tore papers and held up placards near the chairman, Hamid Ansari, for the second day in a row, even after being named and shamed for "gross disorderly conduct."
As soon as the house began on Tuesday, two MPs tore papers in front of Mr Ansari and others encircled his chair shouting slogans, forcing him to adjourn the house. Anti-Telangana MPs also held up placards protesting against the division of Andhra Pradesh.
10 MPs have been named in the house for entering the Well of the House and "persistently and willfully obstructing" proceedings. They include members from the TDP, AIADMK and DMK.
On Monday, members from Tamil Nadu tore copies of the house bulletin while others from Andhra Pradesh loudly protested against the creation of Telangana by dividing their state.
The upper house was adjourned repeatedly, and so was the Lok Sabha, which adjourned on Monday after clocking in just 13 minutes, which translates to a waste of nearly Rs. 1.6 crore of public money.
Criticising the disruptions, President Pranab Mukherjee described Parliament as the "Gangotri" that linked the people and the government. "If Gangotri gets polluted, neither the Ganga nor any of its tributaries can stay unpolluted. It is incumbent upon all Parliamentarians that they maintain the highest standards of democracy and parliamentary functioning," he said at a function.
Last week, four days were wasted in disruptions. The Congress has 39 bills on the agenda of the session ending on February 21, including the bill to create Telangana.