The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were adjourned minutes after session started on Friday, 9 February till noon.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned following protests by members from Andhra Pradesh immediately after Speaker Sumitra Mahajan introduced the Question Hour.
In the upper house, Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Agarwal demanded an apology from Union MoS Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju for a social media post on Renuka Chowdhury triggering an uproar leading to the adjournment.
Today is the last day of the first half of the Budget session.
Members from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Yuvajana Shramika Rythu (YSR) Congress gathered in the well of the lower house demanding “justice” for the state.
Sloganeering continued even as Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi was answering the first question.
On Thursday, 8 February, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had addressed the concerns of the members from Andhra Pradesh over the issue of budgetary allocation to the state for developmental projects. He had said that the Centre understands the needs of the state.
“A package was promised to the people of Andhra Pradesh in the form of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act,” he said adding that many of the projects have been implemented under the Act.
“Some of them are work-in-progress,” Jaitley informed amid protests in the House.
Read More: Jaitley addresses concerns of Andhra leaders over ‘injustice’
Jaitley had also said that the Centre is hoping for a solution in the next couple of days.
The din in the Rajya Sabha was created after the SP MP demanded an apology from Rijiju, who had posted a video on Facebook allegedly taking a dig at Congress leader Chowdhury following the ‘Ramayana’ remark by the PM on Wednesday, 7 February.
Earlier in the day, Renuka Chowdhury filed a privilege motion against Rijiju.
The controversy was triggered after the PM reacted to Chowdhury’s cackling during his speech in the house.
The Parliament session will take a break on Friday and its second part will start on March 5 and conclude on April 6.