No respite despite Chair meeting both sides, RS adjourned
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar said both sides have taken a "rigid stance" and the House is not sending a good message to the people.
3 min read
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar conducts proceedings in the House during Budget Session of Parliament, in New Delhi. (PTI Photo)Despite Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar holding a meeting with floor leaders of various political parties before the day’s proceedings got under way, there was no let-up in the logjam in the Upper House on Thursday. While the morning session was adjourned within 18 minutes of the House convening, the post-lunch session was dismissed in less than a minute.
Members from both Treasury and Opposition benches continued to engage in an intense verbal duel — with the former critiquing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his “Indian democracy in danger” remark in the UK, and the Opposition demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe allegations against the Adani Group.
Dhankhar said both sides have taken a “rigid stance” and the House is not sending a good message to the people. He then adjourned proceedings until 2 pm. He also rejected 12 notices under Rule 267, which sought discussions on allegations against the Adani Group by setting aside the day’s business.
As soon as the House resumed its proceedings at 2 pm, Deputy Chairman Harivansh called BJD’s Sujeet Kumar to continue the discussion on the working of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship amid sloganeering by MPs across party lines. But with members refusing to relent, he adjourned the House until Friday morning.
Earlier, before the day’s proceedings began, Dhankhar convened a meeting of floor leaders of different parties, aiming to hold consultations and break the impasse. The meeting began at 10 am in his chamber to deliberate on the orderly functioning of the Rajya Sabha. Among leaders who took part in the meeting included Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Pralhad Joshi, Arjun Ram Meghwal and V Muraleedharan, and Jairam Ramesh (Congress), Sanjay Singh (AAP) and Tiruchi Siva (DMK) from the Opposition side.
Leader of Opposition in the House, Mallikarjun Kharge, said, “I am going to the meeting. We will see what Chairman (Jagdeep Dhankhar) will say (in the meeting).”
Before that, leaders from several opposition parties met separately at Kharge’s office in Parliament.
In the morning, as the proceedings began, Dhankhar conveyed birthday greetings to BJD member Sasmit Patra and AAP’s Sanjay Singh, and also jokingly remarked that he hoped the latter would make an exception on the day and not disrupt the House. Dhankhar also paid tributes to Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev on their 92nd martyrdom day.
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