Angry exchanges, slogan-shouting and three adjournments in the first hour after the Rajya Sabha convened, blew a big hole today in the agreement between the government and opposition for a “disruption-free” Budget session of Parliament.
As soon as the Upper House convened for Zero Hour, Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP chief Mayawati raised the suicide of research scholar Rohith Vemula, demanding that Dalits be included in the panel investigating his death.
A furious education minister Smriti Irani, who is a BJP member of the Rajya Sabha, shot back, “Who uses a child as a political tool?” She requested that the matter be discussed immediately in the House.