War of placards has Parliament blocked

New Delhi: With the ruling NDA and the Opposition locked in a slanging match, the logjam in Parliament continued for the third day of the monsoon session. While the Lok Sabha on Thursday turned into a spectacle of placards brought in by MPs of both, Congress and the BJP, the Rajya Sabha fared no better as the Treasury and Opposition benches tried to run each other down over the modalities of the discussion on the Lalitgate and Vyapam scam issues.

The standoff in the Lok Sabha took a turn for the worse, after BJP MP Prahlad Joshi raked up the issue of Mr Robert Vadra having allegedly ridiculed Parliament in a Facebook post. An agitated Congress president Sonia Gandhi was on her feet the moment Mr Joshi raised Mr Vadra’s name, and protested against her son-in-law being dragged into a controversy.

Taking their cue from Mrs Gandhi, Congress MPs trooped into the Well of the House and plunged it into pandemonium. Mr Joshi, referring to an allegedly derogatory Facebook post, demanded that Mr Vadra face a breach of privilege motion for having belittled Parliament. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had to adjourn the House for the day.