New Delhi, Mar. 6 (IANS): The Opposition continued to force adjournments of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for the second day on Tuesday over the Rs 12,600 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud with differences cropping up between the government and the Congress in the lower house over the rule under which the issue should be discussed as also the wording of the motion.
Outside the house, Parliamentary Affairs Minister H.N. Ananth Kumar accused the Congress of running away from debate on the issue as there were “skeletons in the cupboard” of the UPA regime.
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House as she was not able to proceed with the Question Hour.
When the house met at noon amidst similar scenes, Kumar said the discussion of the irregularities in banking sector had been listed in the business of the day following notice given by Congress members and the Finance Minister will reply to the debate.
The motion under Rule 193 read: “A discussion on alleged systemic irregularities in banking sector over the years and its impact on Indian economy.”
However, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge demanded discussion under rules that entail voting.
He said the party wants discussion on financial default of crores of rupees in various nationalised banks which resulted in the loot of public money.
Later, talking to reporters, Kharge said that the wording of the motion under Rule 193 was not the same as given in their notice. He said the party would give another notice of adjournment motion.
Kharge said if the government wanted to discuss the past irregularities in banks, it should do it separately. He said the party was raising “recent occurrences of public importance” through its adjournment notice and other opposition parties were on board on the issue.”
Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu first adjourned the House till 11.30 a.m. and asked the party leaders to meet him in his chamber.
However, the meeting did not seem to be fruitful as the opposition MPs were on their feet. Naidu expressed his displeasure at the conduct of the MPs and again adjourned the House till 2 p.m.
Tuesday was the second day of the second half of the Budget session, which will conclude on April 6.
