Lok Sabha adjourned amid Opposition protest; Speaker says ‘not appropriate to..’

The Lok Sabha was adjourned on Monday immediately after it resumed its proceedings amid protests by Opposition leaders against the suspension of four Congress MPs.

Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla adjourned the Lower House with a strident comment on maintaining the dignity of the House. “I want to maintain the dignity of the House. It is not appropriate to run the proceedings this way. I adjourn the House till 12 o’clock today,” he said.

Union minister Anurag Thakur accused the opposition parties of not participating in debates on matters related to public concern. “Opposition has been demanding debates since the beginning of the monsoon session and the Centre has agreed to debate on any matter. Discussions on inflation were supposed to happen today but the Opposition is not ready to discuss,” Thakur said. He added opposition parties could raise questions related to national interest but they are disrupting the House regularly.

“The Centre is always available to participate in discussions even after the question hours. However, if the Opposition will not keep the House in order and raise slogans, bring placards inside, then it is clear that they want to create tumult,” the Union minister added. Taking a jibe at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, the minister said, “He doesn’t have to come to the House. Where is he now I don’t know. The Congress may not be serious about the House proceedings,” Thakur said.

A discussion on price rise was expected on Monday in Parliament after last week saw massive protests by the Opposition. Amid demonstrations, action was taken against members of both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.

Four Congress Lok Sabha MPs were suspended earlier in the week, followed by a new record in Rajya Sabha when 19 MPs were suspended, the highest in recent years in a single batch. Later, four more Rajya Sabha members from the Opposition were suspended.