New Delhi, Aug 30 (IANS) Both houses of parliament were repeatedly adjourned Tuesday following protests by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanding the recall of Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal for appointing a Lokayukta without consulting the state government.
While the issue was raised by BJP members in the Lok Sabha soon after the house met, it was raised in the Rajya Sabha after the question hour.
The Lok Sabha witnessed two adjournments over the issue while Rajya Sabha was adjourned thrice.
Taking up the issue in the Lok Sabha, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani demanded Beniwal’s recall.
He said there had been ‘violation of federal structure’ in the appointment of Justice (retd) R.A. Mehta as the state Lokayukta.
‘We will go to President Pratibha Patil to demand the recall of Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal,’ said Advani, adding that the appointment of the Lokayukta was done without consulting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
He said the governor should be impartial and should appoint the Lokayukta on the advice of the chief minister and the council of ministers.
The party had given notice to suspend the question hour to raise the issue.
The house was first adjourned till 12 noon after BJP members rushed towards the speaker’s podium. The unrest continued after the house met following the adjournment.
The chair allowed Advani to speak who completed his speech amid disruptions from Congress members. However, noisy scenes continued and the house was then adjourned till 2 p.m.
In the Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley took up the issue. He alleged that the constitutional crisis in the state had been ‘created at the behest of people in power in New Delhi’.
If the central government succeeded in the appointment of the Lokayukta without consultation of the state government, the precedent would be repeated in every state, he said.
Jaitley added that the constitution mandates the state governor to act on advice of the state cabinet.
The house was twice adjourned for 10 minutes following noisy scenes by the BJP members and later till 2 p.m.
After Jaitley got up to speak, Chairman Hamid Ansari pointed to conventions and rules of the house on discussing matters concerning persons holding high offices.
Jaitley said there were precedents when even recall of governor had been discussed in parliament.
BJP members got up from their seats to support Jaitley, leading to noisy scenes in the house following which the house was adjourned for 10 minutes.
When the house resumed its proceedings, Jaitley completed his speech. BJP members, however, raised slogans demanding a reply from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Ansari again adjourned the house for 10 minutes.
The BJP members continued when the house met again. Deputy Chairman K. Rahman Khan the adjourned the house till 2 p.m.
