The Lok Sabha was disrupted twice on Wednesday after the Opposition led by the Congress protested for not being allowed to raise the issue of communal violence even as Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu intervened to maintain that “there is no tension” in the country.
As soon as the House met, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge sought to move an adjournment motion as the MPs wanted to discuss the issue in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in the House as questions relating to his office are taken up on Wednesdays.
However, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan refused to adjourn question hour and asked the Congress to submit a notice under the appropriate rule after which it would be slated for discussion.
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Not happy with her response, the Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party and the Aam Aadmi Party members began raising slogans in the Well of the House. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi also joined his colleagues in the Well. However, Trinamool Congress MPs did not join the protest. The House was adjourned briefly during question hour, but the protests gained momentum after Mr. Kharge alleged that incidents of communal violence were on the rise ever since the new government took over, resulting in another adjournment as ruling party MPs objected.
Proceedings returned to normal post-lunch following an assurancethat a discussion would be allowed under Rule 193. When Ms. Mahajan urged the Opposition to “trust me,” Mr. Kharge rose to assure her: “Madam, we trust you, it is the government that we do not trust.”
Mr. Naidu rose to point out that while Mr. Kharge has faith in the Speaker, his leader [Rahul Gandhi] said the opposite outside the House.
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