New Delhi: Both houses of the parliament, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, were adjourned till 2 pm within minutes of beginning the day’s proceedings on Thursday.
LS adjourned:
Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm on Thursday due to slogan shouting by the opposition and treasury benches over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s “democracy under attack” remarks made in London.
As soon as the House assembled for the day, some opposition members came to the well of the house and began shouting slogans, demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into alleged stock manipulation by the Adani Group.
Members of treasury benches also raised counter-slogans from their seats, demanding an apology from Gandhi for his remarks.
Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla urged the members to allow the House to function.
“I want to run the House, I want to give you enough opportunities and enough time to speak. You have to go to your seats. You come to the well and then go outside and tell that you don’t get a chance to speak. This is not right,” he said.
Birla said the House has to be to function smoothly.
“You don’t allow to run the House. You shout slogans. Parliament has dignity and we all have to maintain the dignity,” he said.
As the opposition members ignored his pleas, the speaker adjourned the House till 2 pm.
During his interactions in London, Gandhi had alleged that the structures of Indian democracy are under attack and there is a “full-scale assault” on the country’s institutions.
The remarks triggered a political slugfest, with the BJP accusing him of maligning India on foreign soil and seeking foreign interventions, and the Congress hitting back at the ruling party by citing instances of Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising internal politics abroad.
RS adjourned:
Rajya Sabha also witnessed uproarious scenes on Thursday soon after it met for the day, with the proceedings adjourned till 2 PM.
Trinamool Congress MPs were in the well of the House even before the start of the proceedings and raised slogans saying they are not being allowed to speak.
TMC members were also wearing black masks as a mark of protest.
Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar urged the members to take to their seats but treasury benches raised their pitch demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi for his democracy remarks made abroad.
Opposition members also created uproar and the chair adjourned the House within two minutes of meeting.
The Rajya Sabha has not been able to transact any business ever since it met since Monday for the second leg of the Budget session, amid opposition uproar.
The opposition members have been blaming the BJP for creating pandemonium in the House and for not allowing it to function.
