Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday accused the Opposition of going back on its word in allowing the Lok Sabha to first take up the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the Presidential Address after the lower house witnessed multiple adjournments over the farm laws.
As soon as the Lok Sabha convened at 4 p.m ., Question Hour proceedings were disrupted as leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wanted to raise the issue of the farm laws. Aam Admi Party (AAP) MP from Punjab, Bhagwant Singh Mann, was also heard raising loud slogans to demand an immediate discussion on the farm laws.
Lok Speaker Om Birla urged Mr. Mann to return to his seat and said that he would be forced to take strict action against members who repeatedly violate Parliamentary decorum and dignity.
As the Opposition MPs did not relent, he adjourned the House until 4.30 p.m. When the House resumed its proceedings, Mr. Chowdhury suggested that separate time slots should be allotted for discussion on the farm laws that had spurred protests, and the Motion of Thanks debate.
Mr. Birla asserted that the Question Hour was a matter of right for the MPs and the House should be allowed to function. But the advice went unheeded as more than 20 members, including from the Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), AAP and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) trooped into the Well of the House to protest
SAD leader and former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, holding a poster against the farm laws, was among the protesting MPs also in the Well.
The Speaker then adjourned the House until 5 p.m.
Between the disruptions, Lok Sabha MPs from the Congress met with former party chief Rahul Gandhi informally to discuss strategy.
Identical scenes were witnessed once the proceedings were resumed at 5 p.m., with many Opposition members going into the Well again and shouting slogans against the farm laws. After various papers and documents were tabled, Mr. Birla once again reasoned with the Opposition members to go back to their seats as he wanted to start the Zero Hour, the time at which individual MPs can raise important issues concerning their constituencies.
By then, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister intervened and informed the House that he had held discussions with Opposition leaders. Though he didn’t name the leaders, he said that “these leaders” had agreed to start a discussion on the Motion thanking the President for his address.
“Now, they have made a U-turn and that is also like an insult to the President,” Mr. Joshi said.
