Lok Sabha adjourned till 2 p.m. amid Opposition protest
New Delhi, Aug 11 (IANS) The Lok Sabha was adjourned till 2 p.m. on Tuesday amid heavy sloganeering from the Opposition Benches during the Question Hour.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla urged the parliamentarians to stop the sloganeering and allow the proceedings to run smoothly.
“Disruptions in the House are against the spirit of democracy… We must have debates and discussions in the House… The government has assured that the Home Minister is ready to discuss the students’ protest issue,” Speaker Birla said, while asking both the Treasury and Opposition Benches to maintain the decorum of the House.
However, the Opposition demanded Home Minister Amit Shah’s presence in the House for the discussion on the police action against the NEET protesters during the July 20 Parliament march.
When the din did not fade, the Speaker adjourned the House till 2 p.m.
The Monsoon Session has witnessed repeated protests and interruptions, as Opposition parties raise issues including examination paper leaks, police action against protesters during the Jantar Mantar demonstration, and the Ram Mandir donation theft case.
Earlier in the day, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA MPs staged a protest march towards the Parliament’s Makar Dwar, carrying placards reading “Grah Mantri ki charcha se Rahul Gandhi bhago mat (Rahul Gandhi, don’t run away from Home Minister’s reply)”.
The BJP claimed that the Opposition and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi are “running away” from the discussion on the police action against students’ protest even as the government confirmed that Home Minister Amit Shah is ready to give a statement on the issue.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament is set to end on Thursday. The NDA-led Centre prepares to pass several pending Bills even as disruptions from the Opposition are expected to continue over a range of contentious issues.
Earlier on Monday, amid the heavy sloganeering from the Opposition Benches in the Lok Sabha, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told the House that Union Home Minister Amit Shah will make a statement about the students’ protest and called upon the Opposition not to “run away” during the discussion.
The issue relates to the police action against the protesters at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar during the ‘Sansad Chalo’ march on July 20 over the NEET paper leak and other examination-related irregularities. The Opposition has been demanding the Home Minister’s answer over the police “brutality” against the students during the protest.
–IANS
sd/rad