Telangana's ruling TRS decided to stop protests in the well of the house on Tuesday. (File photo)
As parliament sat for business this morning, there was a ray of hope.
After holding protests for days, Telangana's ruling TRS decided to stop protests in the well of the house to allow passage to the No Confidence notice against the government. Four no confidence notices have piled up over the last two weeks, which have enough support to be called into motion. But no progress has been made due to the unrelenting protests.
Any hope of the situation changing this morning, however, was short-lived as AIADMK began its protests on the Cauvery waters issue. There are only three days to go before the Supreme Court deadline for the government to form the Cauvery water board, which is expected to find a way out in the vexed water sharing issue.
As both Houses sat in session at 11 am, AIADMK members started their protest. Lok Sabha had to be adjourned in exactly one minute, the Speaker said the house will meet again at noon.
At Rajya Sabha, which was to bid farewell to many of its members, there was time only for a few speeches before the Speaker asked for the AIADMK to stop the protests. The opposition demanded that the protesting lawmakers be suspended for a day in order to allow passage of the No Confidence Motion. The demand was turned down by the Speaker and House was adjourned for the day.
When Lok Sabha sat again at noon, the situation was no different. The AIADMK members, including deputy speaker M Thambidurai, stepped into the Well of the House. Amid the chaos, the Speaker allowed a couple of lawmakers to speak, until the Leader of the Opposition stood up, furious that the speaker could allow any business apart from No Confidence Motion.
"For 15 days we have been bringing the No Confidence Motion, more than 50 people are standing for it. Why are you not taking the motion?" said Mallikarjun Kharge of Congress. In response, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said, "We enjoy confidence inside and outside, we are not scared of a debate".
But despite the government and the opposition agreeing, the notice could not be taken up, since the Speaker insisted on decorum inside the House. Both houses now stand adjourned till Wednesday, without any business being conducted yet again.
Responding to the constant adjournments, National Conference's Farooq Abdullah told NDTV: "It is a shameful act. All this money spent on us parliamentarians who do not work, should go to the jobless, to schools, to colleges. The Prime Minister should come to the House and say, 'I am here let's talk... let's get some business done".