New Delhi: Miffed at the continuous ruckus, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday ordered members of AIDMK and DMK to leave the House for the day when they continued to protest in the Well over the Cauvery issue. The House had to be adjourned twice in the afternoon amid din over the issue and finally for the day, minutes after it reassembled at 3 pm.
The protesting DMK and AIADMK lawmakers have said they are ready to face action for disrupting Rajya Sabha proceedings over the Cauvery issue, however, the government is holding hectic parleys to find a solution, sources.
The protest by these members prompted Naidu to invoke Rule 255, asking over a dozen members of both parties from Tamil Nadu to leave the House for the day. Rule 255 provides that the Chairman may direct any member whose conduct, in his opinion, is grossly disorderly to withdraw immediately from the council. It says any member so ordered to withdraw shall do so forthwith and shall absent himself during the reminder of the day’s meeting. AIADMK members had trooped into the well as soon as the House resumed in the afternoon and were continuously shouting slogans “We want Justice, take the permission (to build dam on Cauvery) back, Don’t deny rights of Tamil Nadu,” disrupting functioning.
One of the member said the Government of India has “shamed” Tamil Nadu. Parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Goel also requested the members from Tamil Nadu to allow water resources minister Nitin Gadkari to deliver his statement on the issue.
Mr Naidu also said the minister had been called to the House to deliver a statement following the Tamil Nadu members’ request and now he should be allowed to do so. However, the members from AIADMK continued their protest in the Well, with four DMK members also joining to associate with them. In the meantime, Mr Naidu said now the minister (Gadkari) would not make a statement.
He then asked home minister Rajnath Singh to move a resolution to proclaim President’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir on December 19, 2018 under Article 356 of the Constitution.
