NEW DELHI: Proceedings in the Lok Sabha were disrupted on Friday after Congress members indulged in noisy protests following bribery allegations by a BJP MP.
As the House was discussing matters of public interest, Kirit Somaiya of the BJP claimed that payments worth Rs 4 crore made by a hawala operator had allegedly reached the Congress party. His statement led to an uproar as some Congress members sought to counter it. Somaiya’s submission was not fully audible amid the din.
With the continuing voice of protests, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the proceedings for the day just after 3.30 pm.
Earlier, defence minister Arun Jaitley said Pakistan has increased its attempts to push terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir through the border though it suffered a high number of casualties. Jaitley said the Indian army has domination and impact along the western border and all steps have been taken to check infiltration attempts. “Pakistan has increased efforts of infiltration,” he said.
The defence minister said due to the heightened vigil of the security forces, many infiltration attempts have been foiled and infiltration was down.
“There have been 285 incidents of ceasefire violation so far this year through the Line of Control, compared to 228 such incidents in entire 2016 along the LoC in which eight people had lost their lives,” Jaitley said, adding that there were 221 ceasefire violations along the International Border which is guarded by both the Border Security Force and the army.
Replying to another question, Jaitley said the army has constructed an anti-infiltration obstacle system along the Line of Control and International Border in Jammu and Kashmir, under its operational control.
“Fortification of border is a continuous process,” he said, adding that the government regularly reviews the threat perception to secure the borders and protect national interests.
Privilege motion against Sushma
The Congress party on Friday gave a notice to move a privilege motion in the Rajya Sabha against External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj alleging that she misled the House on August 3 while replying to a debate on India’s foreign policy and engagement with strategic partners.
Congress members Ambika Soni, Vivek Tankha, Pratap Bajwa, Rajen Gohain, Rajeev Gowda and others alleged that in her reply to a short-duration discussion, Swaraj denied that any speech or statement was made by any representative of the government at 60th anniversary of Bandung conference.
She also informed the House that none of the members of the Indian delegation was given an opportunity to deliver a speech on the occasion, which the Congress members are objecting to dubbing it as “false”.
Sushma Swaraj on Thursday had rubbished Opposition’s remarks that the Indian contingent lead by Minister of State (External Affairs) Gen (retd) V K Singh did not mention India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the speeches at the 60th anniversary of Bandung conference in Indonesia in April 2015.
“We are shocked at the blatantly false and misleading statement given by the Minister for External Affairs on the floor of the House wherein the matter was discussed,” said the privilege motion filed before the RS Secretary General.