The Lok Sabha was adjourned on Friday as opposition protests continued over various issues. It was the second day in a row that the House was unable to begin discussion on the Union Budget tabled on February 1, PTI reported.
When the House reconvened at noon after an earlier adjournment, opposition members renewed their protests by entering the Well of the House.
Krishna Prasad Tenneti presided over the meeting and called on the opposition to take their seats and put down the banners. As the opposition members refused to budge, he adjourned the House till Monday, PTI reported.
Speaker Om Birla had earlier lamented that he could not run “such a House”, as reported by PTI.
Noting that 19 hours and 13 minutes had been wasted due to interruptions in the current session, the speaker said members were disrespecting the House.
As soon as the House met, many members of the opposition flocked to the Well, shouting slogans and displaying banners.
The speaker said he wanted the House to run and the people to elect MPs to raise their issues and not shout slogans.
The Lok Sabha has been witnessing disruption since Monday afternoon after the Speaker prevented Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi from quoting an article based on excerpts from former Army chief MM Naravane’s “unpublished memoirs” in which he refers to the 2020 India-China conflict.
While urging the protesting members to allow the House to run, Birla also said there was a question meant for Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi.
As the din continued, the speaker adjourned the proceedings less than four minutes into the call.
He warned opposition members against moving to the Treasury, saying: “I cannot run a House like this.”
The government and the opposition remain locked in a dispute over many issues. In an unusual development, the Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Motion of Thanks without the usual response from the Prime Minister, which was scheduled for the previous day, but was marred by constant sloganeering from opposition MPs.
