By IANS
New Delhi : Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned Thursday as MPs belonging to opposition parties and the Left disrupted proceedings, alleging that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had misled the house on the India-US nuclear agreement.
While the Lok Sabha was adjourned for half an hour at 11 a.m. due to disruptions by members of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) and the Left, Rajya Sabha was adjourned for an hour.
As the Lok Sabha met, MPs of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left were on their feet shouting that the prime minister had misled parliament on the civil nuclear deal with Washington and insisted that he give an explanation to the nation.
The MPs were referring to US State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack’s statement Wednesday that the proposed nuclear deal with India would be terminated if New Delhi decides to test a nuclear device.
Manmohan Singh has been stressing that India’s sovereignty would be maintained on the issue of conducting nuclear tests.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, while adjourning the house, expressed his unhappiness over the acrimonious scenes and said: “What an image you are giving to the country…you have no sense of responsibility. I am ashamed of you.”
The speaker had earlier introduced a visiting German delegation seated in the diplomat’s gallery to the house.
Chaotic scenes were witnessed in the Rajya Sabha too with MPs running towards the podium, raising slogans against the prime minister. The upper house was then adjourned till 12 noon.