Minutes after the proceedings started after post-adjournment at 11.30 AM, Rajya Sabha once again got adjourned till 2 pm after opposition MPs raised slogans on the issue of the Parliament security breach incident.
Before adjourning the House, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar also warned MPs Jebi Mather and Binoy Viswam about disrupting House proceedings.
Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha also faced pandemonium, leading to its adjournment for the day as the opposition stirred a massive ruckus.
“It is sad that politics is being done on this issue…To enter the Well of the House and sloganeering is against the dignity of the House. I request your (opposition) cooperation to hold discussions on important issues,” Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said addressing the MPs.
Ahead of this, Speaker Om Birla also welcomed a Sri Lankan delegation led by Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana.
Amid the chaos inside the house, suspended MPs sat on the stairs of Parliament’s Makar Dwar. Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi met them while entering the House.
Earlier, floor leaders of the opposition’s INDIA bloc held a meeting on Monday ahead of the commencement of the 11th day of the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament.
The members of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance met in the chamber of Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge in Parliament to discuss a strategy to corner the Centre in both the houses. Senior leaders like Farooq Abdullah, Jairam Ramesh, Ramgopal Yadav and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury attended the meeting.
The opposition members are demanding a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah since two people with gas canisters jumped into the Lok Sabha from the visitors’ gallery, triggering panic inside the House. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge reiterated the demand for a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah in the House.
Hitting out at the BJP-led central government over the massive security breach, the Congress President said that the BJP leaders are not ready to let the House function.
“It is a serious issue and the government should pay attention to it. We are repeatedly saying in Parliament that the Union Home Minister should come to the House and give a statement but he does not want to come. They (BJP) are not ready to let the House function. This is not a good thing for democracy but there is no point in talking to people who do not believe in democracy,” Kharge told ANI.
The BJP however criticised the Congress and other Opposition members for holding up the work of the House.
BJP MP Jagdambika Pal said, “It is a question about the security of Parliament, the Speaker is the custodian…The Lok Sabha speaker had expressed his concerns earlier and today also said that a high power committee of the Home Ministry has been formed…But deliberately the issue is being politicised…”
BSP MP Malook Nagar said, “The security incident that happened in the Parliament should not have happened…Parliament should function and it is the responsibility of both the ruling party & the opposition…The opposition leaders should discuss the issue in Parliament rather than creating a ruckus. They should call out the flaws & mistakes of the government. They are trapped if they do not let the Parliament function…It is a trap, which is not good for the country & the people…” (ANI)
