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Journalism of Courage
Lok Sabha proceedings were disrupted for the fourth straight day on Thursday with the House barely functioning for five minutes before being adjourned for the day. In the morning and afternoon sessions, members from the treasury and Opposition shouted slogans at each other, stormed the well of the House, and created a ruckus, raising the Adani issue and Rahul Gandhi’s democracy remark.
The House was first adjourned till 2 pm shortly after proceedings began. There was pandemonium as BJP MPs stood in protest, demanding an apology from Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on democracy being under threat in India, Congress-led Opposition MPs sought a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) on the Hindenburg report on the Adani Group, and TMC MPs, with their mouths covered by black cloths, protested not being allowed to speak inside the House.
With the BJP determined to escalate the attack on Gandhi, who reached the national capital on Wednesday after his trip to London, the party MPs stood up immediately after the House met, repeating their demand for an apology. However, Gandhi was not present in the House.
Meanwhile, MPs from Congress, DMK, Left, NCP and BRS rushed to the well, raising slogans reiterating their demand for a JPC. The TMC MPs, who had been standing around the chamber of the Speaker even before the Lok Sabha met, also staged a protest.
Speaker Om Birla asked members from both sides to take a seat but after his requests were ignored, he adjourned the House till 2 pm. “I want to run the House. I will give everyone an opportunity to speak. But the House must be in order. You cannot come to the well. I have always given all members adequate time and opportunity to speak. Debates cannot be held from the well of the House. You go and take your seat and I will give everyone a chance to speak,” the Speaker said.
He also tried to address both sides of the House. “You (treasury) also sit. I will give you (Opposition) the opportunity. You do not want the House to run? You do not want to have a debate on the Budget? You do not want to have a discussion on Question Hour? You just want to engage in sloganeering. Is that a good thing? I will tell them (the treasury) to sit, and you (Opposition) also take your seat,” Birla said.
“You go outside and discuss, but in the House, you storm the well and shout slogans. This is wrong. Parliament has some dignity and it must be maintained. The House is adjourned till 2 pm,” the Speaker told the Opposition.
In the afternoon as the House met again at 2 pm, the ruckus continued. Kirit Solanki, who was in the chair, asked members whether they wanted the House to run or not. When members did not pay heed, he adjourned the House for the day.
The second half of the Budget session that began on Monday has been witnessing uproarious scenes with both sides not showing any indication of a climbdown. The BJP is expected to keep up its offensive against Rahul Gandhi for the rest of the week, sources said.
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