Dayanidhi Maran raises lack of quorum, Lok Sabha stops Budget discussion

The budget discussion began right after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reply to the House on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address and subsequent passing of the same

As the government’s floor managers failed to muster the quorum, the Lok Sabha Speaker adjourned the proceedings for the day just after 7 p.m. on February 8, 2023. Photo: YouTube/Sansad TV

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday began a discussion on the general Budget but the House had to be adjourned before the scheduled time due to lack of quorum.

The House sitting had been extended till 8 p.m. to continue the debate on the general Budget.

The Budget discussion began right after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reply to the House on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address and subsequent passing of the same in the Lok Sabha.

The first speaker was Congress’ Gaurav Gogoi followed by BJP member P.P. Chaudhary.

However, as the third speaker DMK’s T.R. Baalu finished his speech, his party colleague Dayanidhi Maran raised the quorum issue.

When Mr. Maran pointed out that there was no quorum, senior BJD MP B. Mehtaab told the Speaker that if a member demanded quorum then it had to be called for.

Following this, Speaker Om Birla asked officials to ring the quorum bell to ensure presence of at least 55 members, which was 10% of the total strength of the House.

With the government’s floor managers failing to muster the requisite numbers, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings for the day.