Protests by DMK MPs clad in T-shirts with slogans lead to Parliament adjournment

New Delhi, Mar 20 (PTI) Both houses of Parliament were adjourned on Thursday without transacting any significant business following protests over delimitation by DMK MPs who wore T-shirts with slogans to oppose any redrawing of electoral boundaries.

While Lok Sabha witnessed two adjournments in the pre-lunch period till the house was adjourned for the day at 2 PM, Rajya Sabha was adjourned thrice in the pre-lunch period till the final adjournment at 2 PM.

Both the houses were adjourned for the day as opposition members protested wearing T-shirts with slogans to highlight the issue of delimitation of parliamentary and assembly constituencies.

This is the first day during the second part of the Budget Session when the Houses were adjourned without transacting any business except for the laying of papers.

DMK MPs have been raising the issue of delimitation in both the houses of Parliament, claiming that the exercise would lead to reduction of Parliament seats in the southern states if it is carried out on the basis of census population.

The Chair in both houses have rejected adjournment notices in this regard by DMK members.

Objecting the wearing of T-shirts with slogans on delimitation, Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was in the Chair, requested the Opposition members to come back to the House in "proper shape".

"We have a discussion on agriculture. Such an important topic of the country you are not allowing the discussion to take place. I request you to cooperate and let the proceedings go on," he urged the Opposition members.

When they did not comply, Tenneti adjourned the House for the day.

Earlier, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla objected to the DMK members wearing T-shirts with slogans written on them, and said such actions were against the rules of procedure of the House.

Birla adjourned the proceedings till noon. Similar scenes were witnessed when the House reconvened at 12 noon and TDP member Tenneti, who was in the chair, adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.

DMK members were wearing white T-shirts with slogans '#fairdelimitation Tamil Nadu will fight, Tamil Nadu will win' written on them.

"House functions with rules and procedures. Members have to maintain the dignity and honour of the House. But some MPs are not following the rules and violating the dignity which is not acceptable," Birla said when the House met at 11 am.

The Speaker directed those members, who came wearing T-shirts with slogans written on them, to go out of the House and come back with proper dress maintaining dignity.

"However big a leader is, such undignified attire is not acceptable inside the House. Go outside, change your clothes and come back with a proper dress," he told the members citing parliamentary rules and adjourned the House till 12 noon.

In Rajya Sabha, soon after the House met in the morning, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar allowed the laying of papers and some reports of the parliamentary standing committees, after which he adjourned the House for about an hour.

He said he wanted to meet leaders of political parties over what he witnessed in the House. Without sharing details of what he witnessed, Dhankhar adjourned the proceedings till noon.

"I will be calling a meeting of floor leaders in my chambers at 11.30 am today. I would share with the members what I have seen in the House a while ago," he said soon after listed papers were laid on the floor of the House.

While the chairman did not cite any reason for the adjournment, the issue of DMK members wearing T-shirts with slogans written on them was objected to by the chairman.

DMK MPs attended the House proceedings wearing T-shirts with the slogan "Delimitation - Tamil Nadu will fight, Tamil Nadu will win", which was objected to by the Chair.

Some of them also donned stoles that played upon Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's remarks on DMK MPs' protest in Lok Sabha against the three-language formula of National Education Policy (NEP), and had the word "uncivilised" written on it, with the first two alphabets 'U' and 'N' having been crossed.

As the deadlock over the issue continued, when the House reassembled at noon, Deputy Chairman Harivansh announced that the proceedings had been adjourned again for another 15 minutes.

At 12.15 pm, he again came amid the deadlock and announced that the House stood adjourned till 2 pm.

As soon as it reconvened at 2 pm, the deputy chairman announced that the House stood adjourned for the day.

"The House stands adjourned to meet at 11 am on Friday, 21st March," Deputy Chairman Harivansh informed members.

During the meeting with floor leaders of various parties, the chairman sought their cooperation and urged the DMK members not to wear T-shirts that were against the rules. However, the DMK members were unrelenting and did not budge.

Floor leaders of various parties during the meeting assured the chairman that they were in favour of smooth functioning of the House.

The DMK MPs, however, said the government had failed to explain the issue of delimitation, which might lead to the representation of the southern states going down.

They also refused to change the T-shirts and said they were ready to be suspended if the Chairman wanted to take action against them.

Seeking to avoid any uproar in the House over the issue, the Chair announced the adjournment of the House for the day. PTI UZM RSN AO RAM SKU ACB ANZ SKC ZMN

Source: PTI