Both Houses of Parliament were on Thursday adjourned for the day following Opposition parties’ protest over Hindenburg Research’s report on Adani Group and other issues.
Within minutes of the assembly, the Opposition was on its feet in the Lok Sabha making a din over its demands. Speaker Om Birla tried to pacify them as he wanted to take up the Question Hour. But the Opposition did not relent. Eventually, the House was adjourned till 2 pm.
At 2 pm, after the lunch break, the Lok Sabha remained disturbed and the House was adjourned for the day within minutes.
The Rajya Sabha too saw the Opposition in a protesting mood soon after an obituary reference was made by Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar regarding the passing away of a former Union Law Minister and former member of the House Shanti Bhushan.
The Chairman said he had received several notices for adjournment of proceedings under Rule 267 and none of the notices was in order. He, therefore, was rejecting all of them.
The Opposition, however, did not give up its demands. The Chairman, therefore, had to adjourn the House till 2 pm when the House was adjourned for the day after a short while.
In the Lok Sabha, after the first adjournment, members from Congress, Trinamul Congress, DMK and others trooped into the well demanding a probe into the Hindenburg report.Samajwadi Party, BSP, Shiv Sena (UBT) and other party members were also on their feet.
Amid noisy scenes, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi urged protesting members to allow the House to take up discussion on President Droupadi Murmu’s address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament. He said the House is for discussions and appealed to the members to take part in them. As pandemonium continued, the House was adjourned for the day.
In the Rajya Sabha, similar scenes were witnessed when the House reassembled after the first adjournment at 2 pm. Congress, TMC, DMK, AAP, Samajwadi Party, Left and other Opposition members started raising slogans over the Adani issue. As the ruckus continued, Mr Dhankhar adjourned the House for the day.
Earlier, when the Upper House assembled for the day, adjournment notices given by Opposition members to discuss the issue of investments by LIC, Public Sector Banks and financial institutions in companies losing market value were disallowed by the Chairman.
The leaders who gave the notices in their respective Houses include Leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, CPI(M) leader in Rajya Sabha MP Elamaram Kareem, Shiv Sena MP (Uddhav Thackeray faction) Priyanka Chaturvedi, CPI Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam, Bharat Rashtra Samithi Lok Sabha MP Nama Nageswara Rao, BRS Rajya Sabha MP K Keshava Rao, Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh among others. The Aam Aadmi Party demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address the issue.
Addressing a joint press conference after the two Houses were adjourned, the Opposition parties demanded an investigation by a parliamentary panel or a Supreme Court-appointed committee under the Chief Justice of India into the alleged “economic scam” in connection with allegations by a US-based short seller against the Adani Group.
Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said, “All Opposition parties have decided to raise their voices against the economic scam in the Parliament. We have given the suspension of Business Notice under rule 267 to discuss the issue of investment by LIC, Public Sector Banks and financial institutions in companies losing market value, endangering the hard-earned money of crores of Indians. But our notices are rejected every time. When we raise important issues, we do not get time for discussion,” he said.
“Either a Joint Parliamentary Committee or a team under the supervision of the CJI of Supreme Court should investigate this,” Kharge added.
The LoP questioned the government over lending money to “such companies”, and accused it of putting pressure on the banks to lend money. “Crores of people invest in LIC which is a reputed institution. Rather than pointing out repeatedly to one person, we would say how is the government giving money to such companies? We are unable to understand why is the government pressuring to lend such companies money?” Kharge said.
Like-minded Opposition parties had held a meeting in the chambers of Mr Kharge before the commencement of the day’s sitting of Parliament.The first part of the session is due to conclude on 13 February. A discussion on a motion of thanks to the President for her address to a joint sitting of Parliament is on the agenda.