Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the House till 2 pm as Trinamool Congress members created uproar with one of them, Kalyan Banerjee, threatening to storm the well chanting “shame, shame, Jaswant Singh” and accusing him of trying to divide the state.
This was objected to by some BJP members.
Singh has been elected to Lok Sabha from Darjeeling, a part of the hilly region of West Bengal where a major section of locals are seeking a separate state of Gorkhaland.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Singh said the Centre should help arrive at an amicable settlement of Gorkhaland issue by ensuring talks among all concerned as part of the Tripartite Agreement between the Centre, the state government and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM).
An urgent resolution of the issue is necessary as the area is witnessing a bandh for the past 11 days, he said, adding the Centre should call the GJM leaders and state government representatives for talks soon.
“Let peace be ensured, no threat issued and a political dialogue started,” Singh said.
As he was about to end his remarks, Trinamool members, including Banerjee, Sudip Bandopadhyaya and Sougata Ray, were on their feet shouting “Bengal will not be divided” and “we will not allow you to do it.”
Banerjee then walked towards the Well shouting at the senior BJP leader, but was called back by Bandopadhyaya.
The issue of Gorkhaland has suddenly hotted up in the wake of the decision on Telangana.
PTI
Lok Sabha adjourned over Darjeeling issue
Wednesday, Aug 14, 2013, 13:50 IST | Place: New Delhi | Agency: IANS
Earlier, the house was adjourned till noon over the Supreme Court order cancelling reservations in the faculty for super-speciality medical and engineering courses.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned Wednesday till 2 pm after a spat between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress on the Darjeeling issue.
During zero hour, as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Jaswant Singh raised the issue of autonomy to Darjeeling, Trinamool members got agitated and tried to shout him down.
The TDP MPs also raised anti-Telangana slogans near the speaker’s podium.
Amid the din, the chair adjourned the house till 2 pm.
Earlier, the house was adjourned till noon over the Supreme Court order cancelling reservations in the faculty for super-speciality medical and engineering courses.
The government said it would bring an amendment to negate the Supreme Court order.
“We will bring a constitutional amendment bill in this session,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath told the Lok Sabha after members united against the court order and asked the government to take steps to reverse it.
“We will file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the said order. If the petition is rejected, we will bring a constitutional amendment bill,” Law Minister Kapil Sibal said in the house.
However, the members were still agitated and the house had to be adjourned till noon.
Members of the Congress, BJP, Left parties, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Janata Dal-United, Biju Janata Dal, Akali Dal, Shiv Sena, DMK and AIADMK wanted the government to take steps to nullify the court order.
Contrary to the above reports, Jaswant Singh did not mention Gorkhaland at all in the Lok Sabha today. In fact, he talked to dialogue under GTA. Here is the extract of what he said exactly and are now in Parliament records:
“I would request the Government to take steps for restoration of normalcy and resumption of dialogue in Darjeeling district of West Bengal… I submit to you that the political dialogue between Gorkha Janmukti Morcha and State Government of West Bengal is completely stuck… It is essential that the political dialogue is resumed as per the GTA agreement or the Tripartite agreement… The Union Govenrment is also part of it as is the State Government with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha….it is the correct moment for the Union Government to take an initiative and resume the political dialogue.”
