Bihar: Madan Sahni’s ‘unparliamentary’ remark on CPI-ML stalls House

PATNA: A united opposition in the state assembly on Wednesday stalled House proceedings in the post-lunch session over "unparliamentary" remark made by social welfare minister Madan Sahni.
The opposition members stormed the Well of the House seeking an apology from the minister for his remarks against CPI(ML) saying the party thrived on "cuts" from people who receive old-age pension from the state government.
Sahni made the remark while responding to a listed call attention question put up by CPI(ML) legislature party leader Mahboob Alam and 12 others on non-payment of old age pension to a chunk of people above the age of 60.
The noisy scenes created by the agitated opposition members on Sahni’s remarks led to the adjournment of the House by Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha on three occasions – once in the pre-lunch session and twice in the post-lunch session as a result of which two listed businesses could not be transacted.
The government’s listed business for the day was tabling the second supplementary budget by deputy CM-cum-finance minister Tarkishore Prasad in the post-lunch session, which he did amid noisy scenes right after the House met.
The second business was the two-day House debate on the Rs 2.18 lakh crore state budget presented by Prasad on Monday. The debate could not take place as opposition members entered the Well and shouted slogans against the government insisting on an apology from the minister, who sat stiff and remained unyielding.
Repeated pleas of the Speaker, parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary and JD(U) chief whip Shrawan Kumar to the opposition members to return to their seats went unheeded. CM Nitish Kumar was present in the House in the early part of the post-lunch session, while the leader of opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav was absent.
The old-age pension is given at the rate of Rs 400 per person per month, Sahni said in his reply, adding that the state and central old-age pension is given to 69 lakh people (men and women), and there was 3 lakh other left out beneficiaries whose papers regarding the claims they had made for the payment of old-age pension was being processed.
Responding to the reply given by Sahni, CPI(ML) members Alam and Satyadeo Ram separately informed the House that there were several others across the state who had been paid the old age pension but had been discontinued for some reasons.
Sahni, in turn, suggested that the introduction of the DBT method had deprived them (read the CPI-ML) of fattening on the cuts from the beneficiaries, which elicited a sharp, noisy and censorious reaction from the opposition members belonging to CPI(ML), CPI, CPM, RJD and Congress. The Speaker immediately adjourned the House.
Before the House met for the post-lunch session, the Speaker called a meeting of the leaders of all political parties as well as ministers Vijay Kumar Choudhary and Shrawan Kumar to resolve the matter. But after the House met, the noisy scenes resumed.
Intervening in the situation, parliamentary affairs minister Choudhary expressed his apology by saying sorry for what Sahni had said, insisting that he had done it taking the collective responsibility of the government, but even this did not satisfy the opposition members, who insisted on an apology from Sahni, whereby the House was adjourned the second time.
After the House met again, Alam from the CPI(ML) said that his party had come under repeated attack even on the floor of the House from the treasury benches for winning 12 assembly seats for the first time. The Speaker adjourned the House for the day at 3.18 pm.