Parliament deadlock: Congress MPs decide not to take daily allowance

NEW DELHI - Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Friday said that Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Congress party have decided not to take their daily allowance till Parliament resumes proper functioning.

“Though this is an individual decision, Congress MPs have decided that they will not take their daily allowance from November 10 till the end of this session. The loss to the exchequer due to disruptions in Parliament is very painful. We should follow the principle of no work, no pay,” Bansal said.

He refused to elaborate further, saying it would it be good if the Congress MPs spoke on this issue in their individual capacities.

Each MP gets Rs 2,000 per day when Parliament is in session. Congress has 207 MPs in Lok Sabha and 71 in the Rajya Sabha.

Earlier, Congress spokesperson and MP Manish Tewari had written a letter stating that he did not want to take the daily allowance on days when Parliament did not function.

Meanwhile, both Houses of Parliament were repeatedly adjourned till Monday, as the sessions were taken over by sloganeering and loud protests by opposition members.

As soon as the Lok Sabha met, Speaker Meira Kumar asked Putul Kumari, who was elected from Banka in Bihar in a by-poll, to take oath.

Kumar later made a brief statement on the occasion of the second anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks after which members observed silence.

But the moment she took up Question Hour, opposition members from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena, BJD, Samjwadi Party and AIADMK trooped into the well of the house demanding a JPC probe into the 2G scam.

Congress members too waved placards and raised slogans against Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa

‘Follow footsteps of Congress to save Karnataka from the worst ever Chief Minister’ read a placard waved by a Congress member.

As the din continued, Kumar adjourned the house till Monday.

The Rajya Sabha also witnessed similar scenes

Immediately after the House paid tributes to the martyrs of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, opposition members rushed to the well of the house, demanding the setting up of a JPC to probe the 2G spectrum issue.

As the uproar persisted, Chairman Hamid Ansari adjourned the house till Monday.

The Winter Session of Parliament began on November 9 and has witnessed repeated adjournments over the opposition’s insistence for a JPC probe into the scam, even after A. Raja resigned as Communications and IT Minister last Sunday. (ANI)