Srinagar- Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Monday amid protests by opposition members over the Adani indictment row, recent violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal and other issues.
Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Monday amid protests by opposition members over the Adani indictment row, recent violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal and other issues.
As soon as the House reconvened at 12 noon after the first adjournment, opposition members rushed into the Well and started raising slogans and issues of the indictment of industrialist Gautam Adani in a US court on bribery charges and the Sambhal violence.
While some members were in the Well, others stood in the aisle and raised slogans.
Amid the din, the Coastal Shipping Bill, 2024, was introduced by Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal.
The BJP’s Sandhya Ray, who was in the Chair, urged the protesting members to allow the House to function. She pointed out that voters of the country were watching and their issues must be raised.
With the opposition members not relenting, Ray adjourned the House for the day.
When the House convened at 11 am, opposition members rushed into the Well to demand a discussion on the issues being raised by them.
Speaker Om Birla asked them to allow the Question Hour and said they could take up their issues later. Amid the din, one question was taken up.
However, the opposition members ignored the speaker’s pleas, following which he adjourned the House till 12 noon.
The Lok Sabha proceedings were washed out last week as well due to protests by the opposition members on the same issues.
Before the House assembled, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju was seen speaking to Congress leader K C Venugopal near the opposition benches. Congress member Gaurav Gogoi and DMK leader T R Baalu were also present.
After the first adjournment, some of the opposition leaders including Congress’ Venugopal, DMK’s Baalu, TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee and Samajwadi Party members Dharmendra Yadav and Zia ur Rehman Barq were seen going to the speaker’s office together.
The Adani Group has maintained that Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar have not been charged with any violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the indictment filed by US authorities in a New York court in the bribery case.
Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha proceedings were also adjourned for the day without transacting any business as opposition parties sought to raise the allegations of bribery against the Adani group, violence in UP’s Sambhal district and Manipur among other issues.
The Upper House of Parliament was first adjourned within minutes of meeting for the day and was then adjourned for the whole day amid continued opposition protests.
Soon after the House met at 12 noon, opposition members raised their issues, including the allegations of bribery against the Adani group and the recent violence in Sambhal and Manipur, but Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said nothing will go on record.
As he allowed the Question Hour to proceed, Tiruchi Siva of the DMK also sought to raise some issues, which the chairman said he would allow only after the members took their seats and maintained decorum.
As the opposition members continued to raise an uproar, Chairman Dhankhar adjourned the House for the day.
The Rajya Sabha has failed to transact any business ever since the start of the session on November 25. The first week of the session was a washout as opposition members continued to raise an uproar while seeking to raise their issues.
Earlier, soon after the House met for the day, the chairman disallowed 20 notices served under rule 267, including eight that had sought a discussion on the US indictment on the alleged payment of USD 265 million in bribes by the Adani group to secure solar power supply contracts.
Stating that the notices do not call for admittance, Dhankhar went on to equate the situation in Parliament, which has seen repeated adjournments since it met for the Winter Session on December 25, to Murphy’s Law that states, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”
“It appears that there exists a deliberate algorithm to actualise Murphy’s laws in this august House, consequently impeding the proper functioning of Parliament. We find ourselves achieving precisely the antithesis of what our Constitution ordains,” he said.
Dhankhar asked the opposition MPs to allow the House to take up the listed agenda for the day.
But the opposition MPs rose to their feet, seeking to raise the issues for which they had given notices under rule 267 seeking to set aside the proceedings to discuss them.
The chairman appealed to them in the name of the framers of the Constitution to allow the functioning of Parliament. “Don’t make it dysfunctional,” he said.
As the opposition parties continued to raise the issues, he adjourned the proceedings till 12 noon.
While Congress MPs sought to raise the charges against the Adani group, four notices were served by Samajwadi Party (SP) members to raise law and order issues in Sambhal.
The other notices under rule 267, which calls for suspending the listed business of the House to take up discussion on the issue being sought to be raised, pertained to the continued violence in Manipur, increase in crimes in Delhi, atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh and special assistance to the flood-hit Wayanad district of Kerala.
The Adani group has denied all charges in the US indictment, calling them baseless.
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