Parliament paralysed over nuke deal

New Delhi, Sep 6 (UNI) Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned without transacting any business for the second day running today as the Opposition demanded a JPC to examine the 123 nuclear Agreement, creating pandemonium despite the government's readiness for a debate on the accord.

Trouble erupted in the Lok Sabha 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 as the uproar continued.

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, forcing the Chair to adjourn the House for the day.

The scene was no different in the Rajya Sabha either.

As soon as the Rajya Sabha re-assembled in the morning, members belonging to the NDA and UNPA were on their feet shouting slogans demanding that the government constitute the JPC to examine the implications of the deal, forcing the Chair to adjourn the proceedings of the House twice first till 1200 hrs and then 1400 hrs.

But when the House re-assembled again at 1400 hrs the same scene was played out as Opposition members stuck to their demand and created a ruckus. However, the treasury benches refused to yield to their demand.

Many of the members reached the well of the House shouting slogans like ''We want JPC.'' The Congress members also stood up to assert that they were ready for the debate on the deal but the demand for the JPC would not be met.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachauri said the government was ready for a debate but the opposition only wanted to create a ruckus on the issue.

However, the opposition persisted with their protests and demanded that the JPC be constituted. Deputy Chairman K Rahman Khan tried to pacify the members, but all his efforts failed. Since nothing could be heard in the din, he adjourned the house till tomorrow.

The two Houses were adjourned yesterday as well on the same issue.

The Lok Sabha, however, did see through the passage of two important Bills--without debate and amid the din.

The first related to Cigarettes and Other Tobaccco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Amendment Bill.

The second is an amendment of the Competition Act, 2002.

The Bills were passed after clause by clause consideration.

The Opposition has been demanding that the 123 agreement be gone into by the JPC rather than a panel comprising the UPA and the supporting left parties. It has been arguing that the fate of the Bill, which critically relates to national security and the country's nuclear sovereignty, cannot be decided by a ''private mechinism''.

UNI