Bihar Assembly adjourned after Opposition disrupts proceedings over AES deaths

Patna, July 2 (IANS) Opposition RJD and CPI-ML members on Tuesday disrupted proceedings in the Bihar Assembly for the third consecutive day over the death of 154 children in Bihar due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and demanded the resignation of state Health Minister Mangal Pandey.The Assembly was adjourned till 2 p.m. by Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary after the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML) members created an uproar and trooped to the well of the house demanding Pandey's resignation. "Noisy scenes were again witnessed soon after the House started and the Speaker adjourned the house," a ruling Janata Dal (United) legislator said. Soon after the third day of the Monsoon session of the state Assembly began, members of the Opposition staged a protest inside and outside the House carrying placards in their hands and shouting slogans. Former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Council Rabri Devi also demanded Pandey's resignation. A senior RJD legislator Bhai Virendra has also raised the issue of drought-like situation in the state and said the state government was not serious about tackling it.
--IANS ik/rtp