Rajiv Gandhi Trust land issue rocks Lok Sabha

New Delhi: The BJP on Thursday raked up in Lok Sabha the issue of land allocation to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust in Haryana triggering protests by Congress members leading to disruption of the House.

The issue, raised by BJP MP Rajnath Singh, forced two adjournments of the House, one soon after it met for the day and another at noon till 2 PM.

Singh alleged that the Trust, headed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, had acquired the land by forcibly taking the signatures of farmers in Ullahawas village in Gurgaon district of Haryana.

Demanding a judicial probe, the BJP leader said he had toured 12 villages in the area, including Ullahawas, and seen how the land was being forcibly acquired from farmers.

Singh was persistently interrupted by Congress members who were on their feet blaming the BJP for disrupting Question Hour and raising matters relating to states.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister PK Bansal also said Singh's reference to Haryana was not correct as he was raising a matter relating to a state.

Deputy Speaker Kariya Munda adjourned the House as the din continued.

Earlier, when the House assembled for the day, Singh sought to raise the issue of farmers' grievances in some villages of Haryana. Speaker Meira Kumar said she agreed with Singh that land acquisition was a burning issue and urged him to raise the matter during Zero Hour.

When Kumar called for the Question Hour, BJP members trooped into the well shouting slogans against the government for allocation of land for the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust.

They chanted slogans 'Cancel the land allotment to the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust' and 'Stop harassment of farmers' as the Question Hour went on.

As BJP members sensed that the Speaker was in no mood to set aside the Question Hour and allow Singh to speak, they started making noise thus drowning the proceedings in the din, forcing adjournment of the House till noon.

Controversy over the issue erupted after the Punjab and Haryana High Court pulled up the Haryana government for flouting laws to grant eight acres land to the Trust.

The court had said it was clear that the state government had favoured the Trust run by the Gandhi family by exempting the land from the process while acquiring land for development of Sectors 58-63 of Gurgaon in Ullahawas village.