Parliament disrupted over missing coal files

Both houses of parliament today witnessed disruptions by BJP members demanding a statement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on the missing files on coal block-allocations.

Both houses of parliament Tuesday witnessed disruptions by BJP members demanding a statement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on the missing files on coal block-allocations.

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members vociferously demanded the prime minister's statement on the missing files.

As soon as the house met at 11 am, BJP members got up and demanded a statement from the prime minister.

BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said: "When Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister, he would regularly speak in the house. Why is the current prime minister avoiding it?"

BJP members shouted slogans, asking the Prime Minister to make a statement.

Unable to take up the scheduled business in the face of the BJP demand, Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari adjourned the house for 10 minutes.

In the Lok Sabha, the issue was raised by Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj who demanded that there should be a discussion on the missing coal block-allocation files and that the prime minister should intervene in the debate.

As the members continued to shout slogans, Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the house till noon.