Indian PM fears for parliament after deadlock

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sounded the alarm about the functioning of the world's biggest democracy on Friday after parliament broke up at the end of an almost entirely wasted legislative session.

Opposition lawmakers from the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who are demanding Mr Singh resigns over a coal scandal, staged noisy protests on Friday that capped three weeks of disruption in both houses of parliament.

Faced with MPs shouting and waving papers, the parliamentary speakers of both chambers called an end to proceedings shortly after midday, bringing to a conclusion the second of three annual sessions.

In a statement afterwards, Mr Singh lamented that parliament had been "totally paralysed" at a time when India faced serious problems, from containing ethnic and religious tension to reversing a slowdown in the economy.