By IANS,
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday disrupted both houses of parliament and demanded Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s resignation over the police crackdown on party workers in the capital the previous day.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day following noisy protests when members reassembled after the first disruption that forced the cancellation of the crucial question hour.
In the Lok Sabha, shouts of “Chidambaram isteefa do” (step down Chidambaram) caused a din as members gathered in the house after the morning adjournment.
Deputy Speaker Karia Munda, who was chairing the session, adjourned the house till 2 p.m.
The first hour meant for questions related to government activities and matters of public importance was lost to the protests against police baton charge on BJP youth activists.
The BJP workers were demonstrating Tuesday at Jantar Mantar to press for Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s resignation over Commonwealth Games-related irregularities.
As the Lok Sabha members met a day after intermittent adjournments, Speaker Meira Kumar made an obituary reference to pay tribute to former MP Shantilal Purshottamdas Patel.
As soon as the speaker called for the first of the listed questions, BJP MPs were up on their feet protesting against the police action which they alleged was ordered by Chidambaram.
“You cannot use force to stop those protesting against corruption and rising prices. That is why Chidambaram should resign,” BJP MP Gopinath Munde told reporters outside parliament.
The upper house witnessed more noisy scenes, with some BJP MPs rushing towards the chairman’s podium and demanding Chidambaram’s resignation and an explanation on why their party workers were cane-charged.