New Delhi, May 16 (IANS): Less than two days after it passed a resolution against disruptions, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned thrice Wednesday for various issues, including the plight of weavers.
The upper house was adjourned thrice till 2 p.m., losing half the question hour, and subsequently half the zero hour.
The first two disruptions came in the question hour as the house took up the first question on the situation of weavers in the country. Opposition MPs, including those from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP), alleged that the government was "insensitive" on the issue.
Trouble arose when BSP's Salim Ansari asked a supplementary on the problems faced by sari weavers of Varanasi.
Textiles Minister Anand Sharma attempted to reply to the question saying the government was assisting them in marketing and it was an issue concerning the whole house.
Opposition members, however, did not allow the minister to finish his reply and Ansari, joined by BSP's Brajesh Pathak, BJP's Kusum Rai and SP's Naresh Agarwal, gathered near the chairman's podium.
Chairman Hamid Ansari urged the members to give notice and have a separate debate on the issue, but the MPs were in no mood to listen. Amid the pandemonium, the house was first adjourned for 10 minutes and later till 12 noon.
At noon, proceedings were conducted peacefully with the zero hour mentions but deteriorated soon enough. DMK MP Kanimozhi took up the issue of an elevated road project in Tamil Nadu being stalled, prompting MPs from the state's ruling AIADMK MPs to protest. This forced a third adjournment.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee were seated in the house.
Kanimozhi in her mention said that an elevated road project from the Chennai port was being stalled due to the state government. AIADMK member V. Maitreyan said it was a state issue and should not be raised in the house.
AIADMK MPs sat on the floor near the podium. As the din continued, vice chairman P.J. Kurien adjourned the house till 2 p.m.