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The tug-of-war between government and the Opposition over a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G spectrum case showed no sign of ending on Tuesday, with Parliament adjourning for the day due to protests from opposition parties.
The Opposition protests in the Lok Sabha, however, appeared to be losing steam, as decibel levels remained considerably low compared to the previous week. The House witnessed the familiar scene of Opposition members rushing to the well as soon as Speaker Meira Kumar took up the Question Hour.
Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Samajwadi Party shouted 'We want JPC' and were countered by Congress members, who waved placards and demanded the resignation of Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.
However, after token protests, the Congress members folded the placards and took their seats after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal asked them to do so. Kumar's plea for order did not pacify the Opposition members, who continued their protests in the well. The Speaker then adjourned the House till noon. The Speaker has convened an all-party meeting on Tuesday afternoon to break the logjam.
In the Rajya Sabha, soon after Chairman Hamid Ansari took up the first listed question, Opposition BJP and AIADMK members trooped into the well and raised slogans against alleged corruption at high places in the government.
"Please do not come into the well," Ansari said. He chided BJP leader Rudra Narayan Pany for trooping into the well every time. "Mr Pany, you are consistently violating the rules," he said.
But the Opposition members paid little heed to Ansari and raised slogans, demanding a JPC to probe the alleged irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum under former telecom minister A Raja.
The ruling Congress members countered the slogan shouting, displaying banners saying, 'What About Shourie's Revelation', in apparent reference to former telecom minister and BJP leader Arun Shourie's comments in a TV interview that he was replaced by his party colleague M Venkiah Naidu as the lead speaker for the Opposition BJP in the Rajya Sabha on the 2009 Budget.
As the opposition protest continued, Ansari remarked, "What should be done on the streets is being done in the House. The Chair has no option but to adjourn the House."