Rajya Sabha adjourned till 1430 hrs over nuke deal

New Delhi, Aug 17 (UNI) Stung by some media reports attributed to NDA Convenor George Fernandes over the 123 nuclear deal with the US, agitated Congress members in the Rajya Sabha today stalled the proceedings of the House, forcing its adjournment till 1430 hrs.

As soon as the Question Hour was over, Congress members raised a massive din in the House, saying the reports were derogatory to the Prime Minister and demanded an unconditional apology from Mr Fernandes.

Mr Fernandes had yesterday issued a statement, accusing the Prime Minister of ''betraying'' the country by going ahead with the nuclear deal.

''If it were China, they would have settled it with one bullet in his head,'' he had said in a hard-hitting statement.

Greatly exercised over the remarks made by Mr Fernandes, the Congress members created a massive ruckus in the House, indulging in slogan shouting. They also waved copies of the newspaper report, saying the statement was ''extremely insulting''.

Led by Congress Chief Whip in the House V Narayansami, the Congress members continued to raise slogans despite repeated pleas by Chairman Hamid Ansari to them to go back to their seats.

Meanwhile, BJP members also matched them by raising counter-slogans.

In the ensuing melee that continued for around 10 minutes, members laid down on the table of the House the papers and reports listed against their names.

When the repeated pleas by the Chairman failed to have desired effect, he adjourned the House till 1430 hrs.

UNI