Bedlam was back in Parliament on Friday with the Opposition once again raising the demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to look into the Indo-US nuclear deal in the wake of government?s announcement to set up a committee with Left parties to address their concerns.
The government, however, squarely rejected the demand with external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee stating that the committee was an ?internal arrangement? with the Left and did not have any official status.
Pandemonium began with the BJP giving notice of breach of privilege in the Lok Sabha against the government announcement and party leader VK Malhotra questioning the formation of the committee outside Parliament when the House was in session. Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said he has received the notice by VK Malhotra, and said he would take a decision on it.
BJP members however remained undeterred and came to the Well of the House , forcing the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings till 3:30 pm. Similar scenes were witnessed in Rajya Sabha also with the NDA and Third Front demanding formation of a JPC.
