Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday cancelled a dinner he was slated to host for members of the Upper House on Wednsday, over the disruptions in the Upper House.
It has been told that the dinner preparations were completed last week and Naidu had even spoken to the President, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the House, the Leader of Opposition and floor leaders of various parties, whom he had invited.
Naidu had expected the House proceedings would normalise by Tuesday. At a meeting with the floor leaders of various parties in his chamber on Tuesday, the RS Chairman conveyed anguish over the ongoing stalemate in the House and informed them of his decision to cancel the dinner.
Naidu was of the view that it would not be appropriate to go ahead with the dinner with the House not functioning for over two weeks, sources said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day amid pandemonium created by the opposition parties over different issues soon after Naidu took up Zero Hour.
As soon as the House met for the day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made a statement in the House confirming the death of 39 Indians in Mosul, Iraq, who were abducted by the Islamic State terror group in 2014.
As she completed her statement, members from the TDP, AIADMK and some other parties trooped near the chair’s podium.
Amid the din, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad rose to address the House and held the government responsible for the deaths.
He was interrupted by the protesting members. Naidu urged the agitated members to maintain peace.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel said that the government was ready to discuss every issue raised by the members. But the TDP members continued with their protest, holding placards and shouting slogans.
Naidu then adjourned the House for the day.
(With inputs from agencies)