New Delhi:
Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned repeatedly today as the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) stalled proceedings demanding the resignation of Home Minister P Chidambaram for his alleged role in the 2G scam. A dismissive government says there is no question of a resignation.
The Houses were initially adjourned till 12 pm and then till 2 pm. They re-convened at 2 pm to begin a crucial discussion on price rise; the NDA is allowing the House to function for the debate but has made it clear that it's only so that the House can discuss food inflation.
As part of her speech on price rise, the BJP's Sushma Swaraj said, "We aim to talk about price rise but the conversation always gets delayed. Our adjournment motion was denied and we decided that we will talk under (Rule) 193 but the government did not allow us to do so. On that evening the government took such a decision that everyone was shocked and all work stopped. I, however, congratulate Pranabda for making this conversation possible. We have maintained that Chidambaram is as guilty as Raja in the 2G case. So we want the PM to accept his resignation as well. The PM did not do so. Today Pranabda called me in the afternoon and I assured him that our opposition would continue, but we will talk about this issue."
Before the Winter Session began, the NDA had announced that it would boycott Mr Chidambaram in Parliament over his alleged role in the 2008 2G scam during his tenure as Finance Minister. Today, they picked as context a Delhi court order of this morning that allowed Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy to testify and present his case against the Home Minister in the 2G scam case. In the Lok Sabha, as soon as Speaker Meira Kumar called for Question Hour, NDA members were on their feet demanding Mr Chidambaram's resignation.
The Speaker tried to bring the House in order but Opposition members were unrelenting; JD(U) members trooped into the Well and BJP members raised the slogan "Griha Mantri Istifa Do (Home Minister resign)" from their seats. The Lok Sabha was then adjourned till noon. It opened to more such chaos and was adjourned again till 2 pm. The Rajya Sabha saw similar scenes and adjournments.
BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi later told reporters, "In this situation, Chidambaram should submit his resignation on his own, or else the Prime Minister should sack him."
But the government is clear that Mr Chidambaram will not resign. "Mr Chidambaram is the Government. He is part of the Government. And we are all part of the Government. We all stand together. I don't think that it's fair to even ask questions that indicate as though there is something that he is answerable for. I think that's extremely unfair. Please respect a person's dignity and a person's right to do a job fairly, squarely and to do it according to the law," said Law minister Salman Khurshid.
Parliament has seen just one day of business being transacted, yesterday, in this Winter Session, which has all of 10 working days left. The first two weeks were lost to the Opposition demanding adjournment motions and vote first on price rise and black money, and then stalling Parliament all of last week over the government's decision to allow foreign direct investment in retail. That logjam ended with the government agreeing to suspend its reforms move.