Coal scam rock Parliament; LS,RS adjourned

NEW DELHI: Parliament was on Thursday rocked by reports of an alleged coal scam to the tune of Rs 10.7 lakh crore with the Opposition forcing adjournment of both the Houses till noon. As soon as the Lok Sabha met for the day, JD-U members were on their feet demanding immediate discussion on a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on allocation of 155 coal acreages between 2004 and 2009 to some 100 companies. The moment Speaker Meira Kumar called for the Question Hour, BJP and JD-U members trooped into the Well raising slogans against the government. “Yeh Sarkar Kaali Hai (This government has been tarnished)” the opposition members chanted in the Well. With members unrelenting, the Speaker adjourned the House till noon. Similar scenes were witnessed in the Rajya Sabha where Prakash Javadekar (BJP) said he had given notice for suspension of Question Hour to discuss the alleged scam. “Sorry, the Question Hour cannot be suspended,” Chairman Hamid Ansari said. “You cannot raise the issue without the permission of the Chair,” Minister of State in PMO V Narayanasamy said. As members continued to raise the issue and waved copies of a newspaper, Ansari said members cannot raise “unsubstantiated matters”. “No newspapers are allowed. You cannot display banners. Please sit down. You cannot raise matters in this manner. You can raise it later, this is not the time,” he told the agitating members. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was present in the Rajya Sabha. Javadekar said the Prime Minister was incharge of coal portfolio when the alleged scam took place. Amid din, Ansari adjourned the Rajya Sabha for 15 minutes. When the House met again, similar scenes were repeated and the proceedings were adjourned till noon.