Parl stalled on 2nd day too, Opposition insists on Adani debate

Proceedings in both Houses of Parliament were washed out for the second consecutive day on Wednesday as the Opposition pressed for a discussion on allegations of bribery against businessman Gautam Adani and the violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal.

While the Lok Sabha barely functioned for 16 minutes, the Rajya Sabha ran for half an hour before being adjourned for the day amid protests by Opposition members.

Fissures, however, appeared in the INDIA bloc over protests on the Adani issue as the Trinamool Congress (TMC), a major constituent of the group, conveyed to the Congress leadership that it only wanted to raise “pro-people” matters, including inflation and the Manipur violence. The Adani issue, it claimed, didn’t resonate much with people.

The Congress, Samajwadi Party, DMK, NCP(SP) and Left members protested in the Lok Sabha over the Adani and Sambhal issues, but Trinamool MPs didn’t show much enthusiasm. In the Rajya Sabha too, TMC’s Sushmita Dev raised the Manipur violence even as Congress MPs went ballistic over the Adani controversy.

A senior TMC leader went to the extent of saying that they did not have an electoral alliance with any constituent of the INDIA bloc. The leader cited the recent Assembly bypolls to the six seats in West Bengal, which were swept by the TMC, with the Congress and the CPM fielding their own candidates.

Soon after the Lok Sabha met, Opposition members were on their feet. As a few MPs from the Congress and the Samajwadi Party trooped into the Well of the House and other MPs shouted slogans in the aisle, Speaker Om Birla appealed to them to let the Question Hour proceed.

Amid the din, a question by BJP’s Meerut MP Arun Govil was taken up. However, the protests continued and the proceedings, which lasted six minutes, were adjourned till 12 noon. “You want to create a ruckus in the House in a planned manner? This is not good,” the Speaker said.

The Opposition MPs continued their protests when the House resumed with Dilip Saikia in the Chair. After nearly 10 minutes of the proceedings, during which parliamentary papers were laid on the table amid protests and sloganeering by Opposition members, the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day.

In the Rajya Sabha, the proceedings were briefly adjourned in the morning session due to Opposition protests. When the House reassembled at 11.30 am, there were similar scenes, which prompted Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar to adjourn the proceedings for the day.

The trouble started after Dhankhar rejected 18 notices under a rule of the House to suspend scheduled business to take up issues mentioned in the notices. The notices related to the demand for the constitution of a joint parliamentary committee to investigate alleged irregularities by the Adani Group in connivance with other authorities, Sambhal violence and the rising crime in Delhi.