New Delhi: Parliament was shut on Monday after the Opposition protested against the Chair’s identical ruling in both Houses that a debate will be allowed on Delhi riots only ‘‘after return of normalcy.’’
The two Houses were meeting after three weeks of recess but were adjourned till 2 PM after the morning ruckus. Neither Prime Minister Modi, nor Home Minister Amit Shah, who is in the line of fire, turned up.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla slipped out in the post-lunch session, adjourning proceedings for the day after a scuffle broke out between BJP MPs and Opposition MPs protesting in the well with a banner "Shah must quit."
Sonia Gandhi and Rahul remained sitting even as the Congress MPs protested in the well with the MPs of all other Opposition parties, except the Biju Janata Dal.
The scuffle broke out when the Opposition raised the banner in the face of the BJP's Sanjay Jaiswal accusing Sonia Gandhi of instigating the riots.
In the upper House, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, in turn, rejected all adjournments on Delhi riots, saying the matter was important, deserved to be discuss on priority but only after normalcy is restored.
"I have to decide the time after talking to the leaders of House and the Opposition and taking into confidence the concerned ministry," he said, appealing to the House to speak in one voice for early normalcy.
A similar ruling was given by Speaker Birla in the Lok Sabha.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi endorsed the Speaker's appeal while lashing out at the Congress for taking no action when 3,000 Sikhs were killed in 1984.
Earlier in the day, the Congress MPs led by Rahul Gandhi, Trinamul Congress MPs and AAP MPs held separate demonstrations under the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Parliament House precincts.
