Lok Sabha passes motion of thanks on President’s address without PM’s reply; Speaker slams Opposition

The Speaker expressed gratitude to PM Modi for accepting his request and not coming to the House on Wednesday evening to avoid an ugly situation. Underlining that the House would not function if decorum was not maintained, the Speaker adjourned the House for the day.

“It is sad that the leader of the House does not speak in the House. But I am thankful to him that he accepted my request. If you do not follow decorum, the House will not run… The country has seen how the women members reached the treasury benches yesterday. You can speak what you wish to, but such behaviour is not acceptable. The House stands adjourned for the day,” he said.

Earlier, the House saw disruptions throughout the day and could not function. When the House assembled at 11 am, it was adjourned, within a minute, till noon. At 12 pm, after laying of papers, the Speaker put the motion for the House’s vote without the debate having been completed or the Prime Minister having spoken, and the motion was passed by a voice vote amid the din.

On Thursday, after the initial adjournments, Congress leader K C Venugopal told reporters outside Parliament that Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi would have to be allowed to speak first for the debate to continue.

The House had seen adjournments on the past three days after Gandhi on Monday sought to quote from a magazine that did a story on an unpublished book by former Chief of Army Staff General M M Naravane, who purportedly said that when he had contacted the top political leadership when Chinese tanks were approaching in 2020, he got to hear about the PM’s message after two hours, and the message was “jo uchit lage wo kariye (do what you deem appropriate).”

The motion was moved on Monday by BJP’s Sarbananda Sonowal and seconded by party leader Tejasvi Surya. President Droupadi Murmu addressed both the Houses of Parliament on January 28, at the beginning of the Budget Session.