The 21-day session was scheduled to debate a bill creating a government ombudsman that was a key demand of anti-corruption protests over the summer. It was also expected to deal with bills on education, pensions and judicial standards. However, soon after the session was convened, lawmakers jumped to their feet and began shouting slogans. Some ruling party lawmakers called for the split of the current state of Andhra Pradesh. Opposition lawmakers railed against rising prices.
When Home Minister P. Chidambaram rose to address the lower chamber, the opposition exploded in protests and refused to listen to him because of his alleged role in the shady sale of cellphone spectrum when he was finance minister.
Both chambers of the house were quickly adjourned for the day.
“This is a form of legitimate parliamentary tactics that we are going to resort to,” said Arun Jaitley, a leader of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.
Parliament lost almost all of last year’s winter session to opposition protests against corruption, and government officials appealed to their colleagues to stop obstructing the legislature and allow important bills to be debated and passed.
“There is work to do and we must proceed with the work,” Law Minister Salman Kurshid told Times Now news channel.
Much in the winter session will depend on the behaviour of the opposition led by the BJP.
It has already suggested it plans to boycott Chidambaram by preventing him from speaking in the Parliament over his alleged role in the telecom sale scam in 2008 when he served as finance minister.
"While India is not at war from outside, there is certainly a sense that it is in crisis from within," leading businessman Sunil Bharti Mittal wrote in an open letter last week.
"It is the need of the hour that the opposition parties rise above politics and wholeheartedly support the government in fulfilling its duties by way of passing some critical bills of national importance," he said.
