By IANS,
New Delhi : The Rajya Sabha was adjourned twice Friday over the India-US civilian nuclear deal and the communal violence in various parts of the country.
The house was first adjourned at 11.25 a.m. to meet at 12 noon. However, as the protests continued, Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari adjourned the house at 12.20 p.m. till 11 a.m. Monday.
As the house assembled at 11 a.m., there were obituary references to seven former members, including Harkishan Singh Surjeet of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and K.K. Birla of the Congress, as also former Indian Army chief Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw.
Thereafter, Ansari asked members to observe a minute’s silence in memory of those who had died in terror attacks across the country and in the floods in Bihar.
The opposition was immediately on its feet, asking why the victims of communal violence were also not being remembered.
Failing to restore order, Ansari adjourned the house.
The protests continued as the house reassembled, this time the nuclear deal also becoming an issue.
As opposition MPs advanced toward’s the chairman’s podium, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram tabled a bill to amend the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, one of the measures that had been recommended by the Administrative Reforms Commission in its sixth report presented last month.
As the pandemonium continued, Ansari adjourned the house for the day.