Rajya Sabha adjourns for month-long break
The Rajya Sabha on Monday failed to go through the Question Hour and adjourned for the second part of the Budget Session from 13th March, as Congress members shouted slogans for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani Group affair and raised other issues.
Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar adjourned the proceedings minutes after the Question Hour was taken up at 12 noon. The House had another adjournment for 20 minutes earlier during the Zero Hour when members speak about urgent issues of public importance.
Just as official papers were laid and the Chairman announced he had rejected notices under Rule 267 for suspension of the listed business, Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge was invited to speak. However, Kharge’s observations were expunged immediately.
The Chairman tried to go through the Zero Hour but adjourned the House as there were disturbances. When the House reassembled at 11.50 am, Mr Digvijaya Singh of the Congress said an issue was being discussed all over the world but was not allowed to be raised in the House. He said a JPC should be constituted to investigate the Adani Group affair.
Dhankhar said an issue on which he had given a ruling should not be raised again and the House proceedings should be allowed to go on.
Pramod Tiwari of the Congress said the House was to adjourn later for a month-long break and before the adjournment the suspension of his party colleague Rajani Patil could be revoked to normalise the atmosphere, in keeping with past conventions.
Patil was suspended for filming proceedings of the House during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in the House.
Leader of the House Piyush Goyal referred to the Congress talk of conventions in the House and said the Congress members had expressed no regrets about their slogan-shouting all through the speech of the Prime Minister, who is considered the most popular leader in the world today.
The Chairman said as things stood, he viewed that the current session would be noted for the unfortunate boycott of President Droupadi Murmu’s address to Parliament by two political parties, and the general conduct in the House hurting the spirit of the Constitution.
Dhankhar had to adjourn the proceedings when the Congress members started shouting slogans, as as he tried to go throgh the first question of the day after urging the House to maintain order.
The Statesman
