The Lok Sabha adjourned for the day without transacting any business as a mark of respect to two sitting members and seven former members who died during the inter-session period.

The House also condoled the death of victims of terrorism in different parts of the country and those killed in the stampedes at Naina Devi temple in Himachal Pradesh [Images] and Chamunda Devi temple at Jodhpur [Images] in Rajasthan.

It also expressed profound sorrow on the loss of lives in the unprecedented floods that wreaked havoc in Bihar and also in Assam.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee [Images] made the obituary references to D C Srikantappa, a BJP member from Chikmaglur in Karnataka and Kishen Lal Diler (BJP) from Hathras in Uttar Pradesh [Images].

 Srikantappa (79) died on August 4, while Diler (77) breathed his last on September 4.

Seven other former members Rajendra Agnihotri, Ram Sajeevan, Tej Pratap Singh, P R Ramakrishnan, Shiv Sampati Ram, Pratap Singh Saini and Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi were also fondly remembered by the House.

Members stood in silence for a while as a mark of respect to the memory of the departed.

As the House condemned the "barbaric and cowardly acts of terrorism due to serial bomb blasts in Bangalore, Jaipur [Images], Ahmedabad [Images], Delhi [Images], Malegaon and Agartala," Independent member S K Bwismuthiary was heard protesting against the absence of any reference to incidents in Assam.

The House expressed confidence that the security and paramilitary forces with the active cooperation of citizens would unitedly defeat the designs of the perpetrators of these "heinous acts".
 
RS too adjourned amid uproar
 
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day following uproar over communal clashes in some parts of the country. Hardly had the House made obituary references in memory of some former MPs, several members of Left parties raised the issue of communal riots in the country.

"What about the communal riots," they asked Chairman Hamid Ansari as soon as he completed paying tributes to those killed in bomb blasts, stampedes and the recent Bihar floods.

The Left also raised questions about the Indo-US nuclear deal. As members from Left parties rushed into the well, the Chairman observed that it was a solemn occasion and the House should mourn the death of "all those innocent citizens who have lost their lives". After observing a minute's silence, the members were again up on their feet and Rudra Narayan Pany (BJP) and some of his party colleagues rushed towards the podium expressing concern over the killing of VHP leader Swami Lakshmanand Saraswati in Kandhamal district of Orissa on August 23.

Congress members, including Shantaram Naik and others, were also on their feet wanting to raise some issues.

Advani walks up to Sonia

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition L K Advani [Images] sprang a pleasant surprise by walking up to Congress President Sonia Gandhi [Images] just before the Lok Sabha assembled for the day.

Advani, BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, was seen talking to Gandhi, who is also the UPA chairperson, for more than a minute.

No senior leader from the ruling side was present as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images] and Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee walked in only after sometime.

Advani was also seen exchanging pleasantries with other leaders, including Basudev Acharia of CPI(M).