Opposition protests over MP E Ahamed’s death, Lok Sabha proceedings disrupted

New Delhi: The proceedings of the Lok Sabha were adjourned for nearly 50 minutes on Monday after an uproar by Congress and Left members over the handling of the death of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader and MP E. Ahamed.

Amid noisy scenes, an apparently upset Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House till noon. As soon as the House took up the Question Hour, Congress and Left members, mainly from Kerala raked up the issue of Ahamed’s death at RML hospital in New Delhi following a cardiac arrest.

The opposition members have been demanding a probe into the manner in which the death of Ahamed was “handled” by the government, alleging that he had died soon after being rushed to the hospital but it was announced much later.

When the Speaker disallowed the issue from being raised during Question Hour, the protestors said it was against democratic norms. The members then rushed to the Well holding placards which read ‘Parliamentarians for dignified life and death’ and ‘We are Ahamed Sahib’. As the slogan shouting continued for a while, an upset Mahajan rose to say that such talk should not take place. She then adjourned the proceedings till noon.

Treasury and opposition benches were largely empty on Monday with most members apparently concentrating on electioneering in Uttar Pradesh.

Trinamool Congress members were present in the House, but unlike on Friday, did not protest the arrest of their MPs in a chit fund scam by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The members of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), which is witnessing transition of absolute power to V.K. Sasikala, were also conspicuous by their absence. Earlier as soon as the House met, Mahajan made obituary references on the killing of 8 Odisha Armed Police personnel in a landmine blast allegedly by Left-wing extremists and the death of 17 miners in a cave-in at a Jharkhand open cast mine.