Cong persists with protests in House

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Friday continued with its protests in both houses of the Parliament for the fifth day over PM Narendra Modi’s allegation that his predecessor Manmohan Singh had colluded with Pakistan ahead of the recently held Gujarat polls.

The grand old party forced an adjournment in the Rajya Sabha, stating that the House will be allowed to function only after the issue of Modi’s allegations against the former PM and other Congress leaders was resolved.

Leader of Opposition in the Upper House, Ghulam Nabi Azad, said the House should be adjourned till afternoon so that a solution could be found to end the impasse. He said two meetings of the panel headed by the Leader of the House, Arun Jaitley, have taken place to find a solution. “The House should be adjourned till a solution is found,” he said, adding that the Congress mem- bers do not want to enter the well of the Rajya Sabha to force an adjournment of proceedings.

However, in the Lok Sabha, Congress MPS did storm into the well and shouted slogans against the Prime Minister, seeking an apology from him for insinuating that Singh and other party leaders had secretly conspired with Pakistan to win Gujarat polls.

Congress MPS staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha soon after the question hour was over as a mark of protest for ‘not being allowed’ to speak. However, they returned to join the debate on Cyclone Ockhi. Cutting across party lines, the Lok Sabha members sought stronger coordination between various agencies to deal with cyclones and other natural disasters, with some of them alleging that the advance warning for Cyclone Ockhi was issued to Kerala very late.

Congress and Left members, especially those from Kerala, sought a probe into the alleged disaster mismanagement. JAIPUR: Following the governor’s nod, the Rajasthan government on Friday issued a notification providing 1% reservation to Gujjars and four other backward communities, taking the total quota in the state to 50%.

The new quota will be in addition to the reservation given to these communities, including Rebari, Banjara, Gadariya and Luhar, under the OBC category.

The additional quota will be given in the ‘More Backward Classes’ category for which a bill was passed in October.

Earlier, three attempts by the government to provide 5% reservation to these communities failed since they were going against the Supreme Court guideline of 50% cap on quota.

“As committed, the state government has issued notification providing 1% quota,” said Arun Chaturvedi, minister for social justice and empowerment.

However, Gujjar Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti president Colonel Kirodi Singh Bainsla said, “We are not satisfied with 1%. Our demand is 5%.