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A resurgent Opposition on Tuesday successfully blocked the introduction of the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO) in the Lok Sabha by the government and forced the adjournment of both Houses of Parliament for the day.
Earlier in the day, the Opposition had forced adjournment of the House for two hours seeking an explanation on a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on suspicious purchases of coffins during the Kargil conflict.
Opposition members, notably Raghuvansh Prasad Yadav and Kanti Singh (RJD ), Ajoy Chakraborti (CPI) and Ramdas Athwale (RPI), squatted on the well of the House several minutes before it reconvened after lunch.
When the house reconvened at 1400 hours, Deputy Speaker P M Sayeed was greeted by slogan-shouting members of the Opposition.
The slogans pointedly referred to the strictures passed against the defence ministry by the CAG on the purchase of caskets for the martyrs of the Kargil conflict wherein allegedly sub-standard caskets were bought at exorbitant rates.
Later, Union Home Minister L K Advani's attempt to introduce the bill to replace POTO in the House failed as Opposition members refused to heed Sayeed's appeal to maintain decorum and littered the well of the House with torn copies of POTO.
Advani, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan, Union Minister for Law and Justice Arun Jaitley and BJP parliamentary spokesman V K Malhotra watched helplessly as Opposition members continued the din.
It took Deputy Speaker Sayeed barely five minutes to be convinced that the Opposition's vociferous agitation against the anti-terrorism ordinance was not likely to die down and he adjourned the House for the day.
In the Rajya Sabha too, a somewhat similar scene unfolded forcing the chairperson to adjourn the House for the day.
However, after a meeting of leaders of various parties called by Speaker G M C Balayogi, it emerged that the disruption of proceedings is not likely to invite any action, under the newly adopted code of conduct, against the MPs.
POTO: Complete Coverage
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