Rajya Sabha adjourned twice over ‘quit Krishna’ demand

New Delhi, Dec 9 (IANS) The Rajya Sabha was adjourned repeatedly Friday as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday demanded the ouster of External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna after he was named in an illegal mining case in Karnataka.

The Rajya Sabha as well as the Lok Sabha were adjourned in the morning. After the upper house resumed at noon, BJP members noisily persisted with their demand that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should remove Krishna, leading to a second adjournment.

Krishna is under the police scanner for his alleged role in allowing illegal mining in Karnataka when he was the state’s chief minister 1999-2004.

Some party members gathered near the presiding officer’s podium shouting slogans of ‘Sack S.M. Krishna’.

P.J. Kurien, who was in the chair, urged BJP members to resume their seats but they were in no mood to listen.

As the noisy scenes continued, the house was adjourned till 2.30 p.m.

BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu told reporters that Karnataka Lokayukta police had filed an FIR (first information report) against three former Karnataka chief ministers, including Krishna.

‘Charges are serious in nature…prime minister should immediately dismiss Krishna from his cabinet,’ Naidu said.

He said Congress should not have ‘double standards’ as it had earlier demanded the resignation of former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa after his indictment by the state Lokayukta.