Headlines
Demands for Gadkari's resignation disrupt Rajya Sabha
New Delhi, May 8
The Rajya Sabha was stalled
on Friday as opposition parties led by the Congress demanded the
resignation of union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari
for alleged irregularities in a company owned by him.
A report of
the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has named Gadkari as one of
the "promoters and/or directors" of Purti Sakhar Karkhana Ltd (PSKL)
that was sanctioned a loan of Rs.84.12 crore by the Indian Renewable
Energy Development Agency in violation of guidelines.
Apart from a
few zero hour mentions, and the routine tabling of papers, the house
could not take up any business - not even the private members' business
scheduled for the day.
It faced several adjournments before being
finally adjourned for the day at 3.30 p.m., as the opposition demanded a
clarification from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Congress deputy
leader Anand Sharma slammed the ruling BJP, saying when they were in
opposition they disrupted the house several times over allegations of
corruption.
"The prime minister has to come to the house... We
will not accept anything else. He goes all over the world abusing and
vilifying all his predecessors. We will ensure accountability," Sharma
said.
"He goes as the prime minister, on the expenditure of public exchequer and then becomes a 'pracharak' for his party," he said.
Minister
of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the
government is ready for a discussion while Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien
urged members to follow procedures and give a notice. But the opposition
refused to relent.
Congress members trooped near the chairman's
podium several times through the day and shouted slogans demanding
Gadkari's resignation.
The war of words between the ruling and the opposition benches continued.
Minister
Naqvi slammed the Congress for making "baseless allegations". "We have
said we have zero tolerance for corruption... We are ready to discuss
corruption, the PAC (Public Accounts Committee) will examine the CAG
report."
"The allegations are baseless, we have the CAG report," he added.
The issue was raised earlier in the day by Congress MP Shantaram Naik, who said the minister must resign.
"Opposition parties demanded resignation of our ministers time to time... now Nitin Gadkari has to resign," said Naik.
He
said the CAG has found that PSKL did not comply with the conditions for
interest subsidy which stipulated that the renewable energy project was
to operate for a minimum of 10 years after its completion.
The
upper house saw two adjournments during zero hour and three during
question hour when Chairman Hamid Ansari adjourned the house till 2.30
p.m., unable to take up a single question.
At 2.30 p.m., the
protests continued and the house saw another hour-long adjournment
before being adjourned for the day a little after it reassembled at 3.30
p.m.
Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, speaking on the
issue earlier, said: "This is not a question of allegation against a
member. It is a CAG report... Based on CAG reports number of heads have
rolled earlier."
"The BJP government inside and outside the house
is talking about transparency and corruption. Also in the same breath
it is talking about stains (of corruption) during UPA government.
"Here
there is a proven case against a minister who had to resign because of
the same reason as president of BJP... the party may maintain he did not
resign... He has been indicted he cannot continue as minister even for a
day," said Azad.