RLM asks PM to quit; LS adjourned

Congress leads RS walkout

NEW DELHI, Nov 30, 1998. — The first day of the winter session of the Lok Sabha began on a heated note today with agitated members of the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Samajwadi combine, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha, demanding govern-ment’s resignation over its failure to contain prices of essential commodities and forcing adjournment of the House for the day without transaction of business. The Opposition staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha.

Members of the RLM were on their feet soon after the House went through the ritual obituary references and raised slogans, demanding Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s resignation.

Even as the Speaker, Mr G M C Balayogi, called the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Sharad Pawar, to speak, the members of the RJD-SP combine rushed into the well of the House and started raising slogans against the government.

Mr Pawar was heard saying he had given a notice seeking suspension of question hour and had pressed for a discussion on the abnormal rise in prices.

A sombre BJP, led by the Prime Minister, the Home Minister, Mr L K Advani, and other Cabinet members remained mute spectators as members of the RLM raised slogans like "Vajpayee istipha do" (Vajpayee resign). They said the BJP-led coalition had no moral justification for remaining in office after the people had voted against it in the just concluded poll.

After 25 minutes of noisy scenes and Speaker’s appeal to the members to maintain order, Mr Balayogi adjourned the House till 1400 hours.

When the House reassembled, the RLM members again trooped into the well of the House amidst sloganeering. They refused to heed to the Speaker’s appeal for restoration of decorum in the House. Congress members, however, remained silent.

Some members of the BJP tried to counter the RLM onslaught by trading counter-charges but senior leaders like Mr L K Advani and Mr Murli Manohar Joshi restrained them.

The Speaker tried to persuade the agitated members to return to their seats, saying that the House was ready to discuss price rise and other important issues as demanded by several members.

At one stage he chided the Opposition, saying that it was not the proper way to raise any matter. When the House was willing to discuss the issue threadbare, he said he did not understand the reason behind such an act.

The president of the RLM, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, said there was no question of retreat on the price issue and the government should quit. He said apart from the price rise issue, there were many issues which needed to be raised in the House.

The Speaker finally adjourned the House for the day.

Outgoing Delhi Chief Minister Sushma Swaraj, who resigned as Information and Broadcasting Minister but retained her Lok Sabha seat, was conspicuous by her absence.