Lok Sabha adjourned till 2 pm over Opposition protests

New Delhi, August 1 dmanewsdesk:  The Opposition on Monday forced adjournments in the Lok Sabha, demanding the revocation of suspension of four Congress members.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourned the proceedings till noon soon after the House convened for the day. Opposition members resorted to sloganeering when the House reassembled at 12 noon.

BJP member Rajendra Agarwal, who was in the Chair, adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm after laying of parliamentary papers on the table of the House and the introduction of the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The Congress members were in the well of the House, raising slogans against the Narendra Modi-led central government over targeting of Opposition leaders by central investigative agencies. They also demanded the revocation of suspension of four Congress members.

Four Congress members — Manickam Tagore, Ramya Haridas, T N Prathapan and S Jothimani — were suspended last Monday for the rest of the session for protests and carrying placards inside the House.

Lok Sabha proceedings have been disrupted mostly due to the Opposition protests and demands of a discussion on price rise and GST rate hike on some food items, since the Monsoon Session began on July 18.

As the House met at 11 am after the weekend break, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla congratulated Indian sportspersons who have brought laurels to the country in the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

While Mirabai Chanu, Jeremy Lalrinnunga and Achinta Sheuli have bagged gold medals, Bindyarani Devi and Sanket Sargar got silver and Gururaja Poojary got bronze at the games, he noted.

He congratulated the medal winners and all players participating in the sporting event and said they are the inspiration for the youth of the country.

When the Speaker took up questions related to different ministries, the Congress members started protesting, demanding the withdrawal of suspension of four of their colleagues.

Initially, they protested standing at the aisles, but later came to the well of the House.

The Speaker appealed to them to go back to their seats and allow the House to run.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal accused the Opposition of disrupting the proceedings and not allowing the House to function by their protests.

Birla said such protests were not good as it was lowering the dignity of the House.

The Opposition, however, did not heed to the appeals following which the Speaker adjourned the House till noon.

Similar scenes were witnessed at 2 pm with the Opposition members raising slogans against the government.

Bring back suspended members , stop murder of democracy , ED Sarkar hai, hai were some of the slogans raised by the Congress members. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) members supported the Congress from their respective seats.

Amid the din, Agarwal adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.

Source: PTI