LS adjourns for day on nuclear deal issue

New Delhi, Sep 6 (UNI) The BJP-led Opposition's demand for constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to go into the Indo-US nuclear deal rocked the Lok Sabha for the second consecutive day today, culiminating in the adjournment of the Lower House for the day several hours ahead of schedule.

In fact, the house was adjourned twice earlier on the same issue.

Trouble erupted in the house right from the question hour with the Opposition members staging a slogan-shouting demonstration in the well of the house, making it impossible for the Chair to transact normal business.

Accordingly, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee adjourned the house within five minutes during the question hour to meet again at 1200 hrs.

Within ten minutes of the start of the zero hour, he again adjourned the house till 1400 hrs.

When the house re-assembled at 1400 hrs, the determined opposition again staged noisy scenes, demanding the government constitute the JPC in place of the 15-member UPA-Left panel to go into the implications of the US' Hyde Act on India's independent foreign policy, sovereignty and its future weapons programmes.

Janata Dal (United) member Prabunath Singh said it was improper on the part of the government and the ruling coalition to have a discussion on the important issue like the Indo-US Nuclear deal only with the Left parties.

The Opposition has been arguing that the fate of the deal, which critically relates to national security and the country's nuclear sovereignty, cannot be decided by a ''private mechanism''.

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