Parliament: Both Houses adjourned for the day, Rajnath Singh briefs MPs on Dalit protests amid din
The home minister urged citizens and members to maintain peace in the aftermath of Monday’s violence.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day yet again, minutes after Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh briefed the House on Monday’s Dalit agitation amid noisy protests by Opposition parties. The Rajya Sabha was also adjourned till Wednesday.
This is the last week of the Budget Session, which has been entirely washed out because of a series of protests by various Opposition parties.
Rajnath Singh told the Lok Sabha that the government had filed a review petition in the Supreme Court to appeal the verdict which allegedly dilutes the law protecting people of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from atrocities.
At least nine people were killed in violence in parts of the country during the nationwide shutdown on Monday to protest the March 20 court order.
Singh appealed to citizens and members of the House to maintain peace in the aftermath of the violence. He said the government had not done anything to dilute the atrocities law, and had rather strengthened it.
Earlier, the Lok Sabha had been adjourned till noon after All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MPs shouted “we want justice” slogans and entered the Well of the House. The Tamil Nadu-based party has been protesting the government’s delay in forming the Cauvery Management Board.
Members from the Congress and the Left were seen standing at their seats and apparently accusing the AIADMK of stalling proceedings, PTI reported. Some Congress members were also heard criticising the government for Monday’s violent Dalit protests.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned soon after new members took oath, as members of the Telugu Desam Party demanded the special category status for Andhra Pradesh. The party’s chief, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, met several legislators in Parliament on Tuesday to discuss the demand.
Outside Parliament, legislators of other parties continued to protest over several topics before proceedings began. Trinamool Congress MPs protested against against Dalit atrocities and Congress members from Punjab demanded financial aid to Indians who were killed in Iraq.