Indian parliament adjourned sine die amid continuing protests

NEW DELHI, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Both Houses of the Indian parliament were Friday adjourned sine die, officials said.

According to officials, no sooner the lower House of the parliament (Lok Sabha) met for the day, lawmakers from southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu raised slogans to disrupt the House.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said around 128 hours were wasted during the just concluded session due to disruptions.

Likewise, the Chairman of Upper House of Indian parliament (Rajya Sabha) M Venkaiah Naidu adjourned the House sine die after making a brief observation about its functioning.

The disruptions wasted 120 hours of House, Naidu said.

The second half of the Budget session, which began on March 5 was marred due to frequent adjournments without any business having being transacted.

The lawmakers from main opposition Congress party were protesting against fraudulent transactions worth about 1.77 billion U.S. dollars case at India's state-owned multinational banking and financial services company - Punjab National Bank (PNB).

Lawmakers from southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh were demanding special status, while as lawmakers from adjoining Tamil Nadu were demanding fair share of water from river Cauvery.

The ruling Bhartiya Janta Party lawmakers Friday also staged protest in Parliament premises against Congress party accusing them of wasting entire session. Enditem