Both Houses of Parliament adjourned till Wednesday amid Opposition uproar

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 25: Uproar by Opposition parties forced proceedings in both Houses of Parliament ~ the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha ~ to be adjourned until Wednesday.

In the Rajya Sabha, the Opposition, led by the Congress, attempted to raise the issue of the indictment of Adani Group founder Gautam Adani and others in a US court. The charges relate to paying bribes to secure solar power supply contracts.

The Lok Sabha was also adjourned without any significant business being conducted on Monday, due to protests from Opposition members on a range of issues.

When the Lower House reconvened at noon, Opposition members raised slogans relating to the violence in UP’s Sambhal and demanded an investigation into allegations made against a prominent businessman in a US court.

BJP member Sandhya Ray, who was chairing the session, asked if members were unwilling to let the House proceed with its business. The Chair then decided to adjourn proceedings until Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the Lower House had been adjourned until noon after paying tribute to departed members, including 2 MPs who had won the parliamentary elections this year.

In the Rajya Sabha, Leader of the Opposition and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, along with 6 other MPs, called for a discussion on the Adani bribery issue. Kharge claimed that if the day’s business were suspended, the Opposition would be able to explain how this “very important” issue was affecting the entire country.

The image of the country has been tarnished globally and yet Prime Minister Narendra Modi was supporting Adani, he alleged.

At this point, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar ordered that nothing that Kharge says will go on record. However, as the Opposition persisted, Dhankhar adjourned the session for 15 minutes.

When the House re-assembled at 11:45 a.m., the Chairman said he has the highest respect for the members of the House and urged them to allow him to continue with the scheduled business. However, some opposition members were heard raising certain matters.

The Chairman then adjourned the proceedings of the House for the day.

On Tuesday, Parliament will hold a special event in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan to launch yearlong celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution by the Constituent Assembly.

There will be no sitting of Parliament on Tuesday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Constituent Assembly’s adoption of the Constitution in 1949.

Chairman Dhankhar had disallowed 13 notices filed under Rule 267, including 7 requests for a discussion on the US indictment involving the alleged payment of USD 265 million in bribes.

The other notices under rule 267, which calls for suspending the listed business of the House to take up discussion on the issue being sought to be raised, pertained to continued violence in Manipur, violent clashes in UP’s Sambhal district and special assistance to the flood-hit Wayanad district of Kerala.

(TNIE with inputs from PTI)