Parliament adjourns twice over petrol, diesel price hike

New Delhi, Mar 3 (PTI) The entire opposition Wednesday got
together and disrupted proceedings in both Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha over the government's decision to raise prices of petrol
and diesel, forcing two adjournments till 2 PM.

Trouble started soon after the two Houses met for the day
after a four-day break, with the opposition members demanding
rollback of the price increase announced in the general Budget
presented by India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on
February 26.
The Opposition benches shouted slogans demanding rollback
of the Rs 2.71 a litre hike in petrol price and Rs 2.55 per
litre increase in diesel rates.
In the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indian Parliament),
members of National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Samajwadi Party
(SP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) trooped into the Well to
press their demand.
In view of the uproar, both the Houses were first
adjourned till 1200 hours soon after they met. Similar scenes
were seen when the Houses re-convened at noon, leading to
their adjournments till 2 PM.
In the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Indian Parliament), the
opposition members took exception to India's Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh's assertion while returning from Saudi Arabia
on Monday that there will be no rollback, contending that it
was a breach of privilege as he had made the statement outside
Parliament though the House was in session.
"Instead of answering in the House, the Prime Minister
chose mid-air to reject the demand (about rollback) made by
the nation," Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun
Jaitley said.
He was supported by Left members, with Communist Party of
India (Marxist) (CPI-M) leader Brinda Karat saying the Prime
Minister's statement had created a "lot of confusion".

Referring to Singh's contention that the increase in fuel
prices would lead to marginal rise of 0.4 per cent in
wholesale prices of products, Karat said it amounted to
"rubbing salt to the wounds".
Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha K Rahman Khan said there
was no breach of privilege on part of the Prime Minister.
India's Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who
was scheduled to reply to a short-duration discussion on rise
of prices of essential commodities, was not allowed to speak
by the aggressive opposition members.
S S Ahluwalia (BJP) and D Raja (CPI) said the opposition
would be ready to listen to Pawar's reply but asked whether he
would respond to the rollback demand.
Khan said Pawar would not speak on Budget proposals and
also disallowed any discussion on fuel price hike, saying the
members could speak on the issue during debate on the Budget.
In the Lok Sabha, members of BJP, Janata Dal- United
(JD-U), Left parties, SP, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and others
were on their feet as soon as the House met for the day.
SP members trooped into the well and raised slogans. They
were joined by BJP members who shouted, "Yeh sarkar nikammi
hai (This government is incompetent)" and "jo sarkar nikammi
hai, woh sarkar badalni hai (An incompetent government needs
to be changed)".
As the din continued, Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the
House till 12 noon. Similar scenes were witnessed when the
House re-assembled, prompting Deputy Speaker Karia Munda to
adjourn it till 2 PM.
Amidst noisy scenes, Munda ordered laying of papers listed
for the day as also the matters to be raised through Special
Mentions. PTI MS
MRD