May 10, 2016 4:21 PM

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Uproar in Rajya Sabha over Uttarakhand Appropriation Bill

The Rajya Sabha witnessed an uproar during its post-lunch session today with the opposition parties demanding that the Uttarakhand Appropriation Bill be shelved in view of the floor test in the State Assembly this morning. The Congress members claimed since their party has won the trust vote, there is no need for returning the Appropriation Bill of Uttarakhand. This was objected to by the treasury bench members, pointing out that it is a Constitutional obligation.<br/><br/>Leader of the House Arun Jaitley reminded the House that the President has directed Parliament to return the Uttarakhand Appropriation Bill, which is a Money Bill. He pointed out that the Uttarakhand Assembly had not passed the state budget because of the political developments. The Governor had not given his assent to the documents sent by the Assembly Speaker. This is why the Centre promulgated an ordinance to ensure that expenditures incurred by the state have Constitutional validity. Amidst the uproar Prof. Kurien adjourned the House for fifteen minutes till 3 PM.<br/><br/>When the House re-assembled at 3 PM after a brief adjournment, Congress members again trooped into the well raising slogans against the government. Naresh Agarwal of the Samajwadi Party suggested adjourning the House till tomorrow. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi took serious objection to the behaviour of Congress members. He said the House will not run according to their will and the House should not be adjourned every now and then. He said some people wanted to hijack the country's development agenda. Later, the House took up the discussion on the Appropriation Bill, 2016 and the Finance Bill, 2016. As the uproar continued, Prof. Kurien adjourned the House once again till 4 PM.<br/><br/>Earlier, after the House re-assembled at 2 PM, Congress members surged in the well raising slogans condemning the Centre for its action in Uttarakhand. Amidst the uproar, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi sought the Chair's direction to pass the Appropriation Bill as had been agreed by all parties including the Congress yesterday. He said if the agitating members thwart the passing of the three money bills including the Appropriation Bill 2016 and the Finance Bill, 2016, they will be passed by a voice vote without discussion.<br/><br/>K C Tyagi of the JD(U) and Naresh Agarwal of the Samajwadi Party said they wanted a discussion. At one point of time, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien reminded the members that the bills would be deemed to have been automatically passed after 14 days. But the Congress members continued their sloganeering. Some BJP members also raised counter-slogans.

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