Both the Houses of Parliament were adjourned on Thursday following the chaos in the Rajya Sabha following the press conference held by opposition MPs a day earlier and the chaotic scene in the Lok Sabha following allegations of links between the Congress and billionaire George Soros.
The Lok Sabha witnessed unruly scenes after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey made allegations about Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s links with Soros, prompting opposition MPs to take to the Speaker’s dais in protest. The meeting was adjourned till 1 p.m., only to be adjourned till 2 p.m. in a few seconds.
After about half an hour on Thursday morning, the meeting of the Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm. Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Speaker Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected Congress MP Renuka Chaudhary’s notice calling for a discussion on “allegedly derogatory and divisive statements made by a sitting judge of the Allahabad High Court”.
Several notices by opposition MPs under Rule 267, which allows members to suspend rules to discuss urgent matters, were also rejected by Speaker Om Birla.
“I have received six notices under Rule 267. I have made up my mind on all but one. “On which my decision has not yet come is the notice that Renuka Choudhary sought a discussion on the alleged insulting and divisive statement made by the sitting judge of the Allahabad High Court,” Dhankhar said in the upper house.
“Article 121 of the Constitution prohibits discussions on the conduct of judges in the discharge of their duties, except for motions seeking the removal of judges. Absent a duty, I am referring to another rule, a rule made by this House…the rules say…while a member is speaking…the conduct of a superior officer should not be reflected unless the discussion is on the basis of a substantive motion…properly drawn,” Dhankhar said, discussing only substantive motions on the matter. Can be done and the notice is “Rule Violation”.
Addressing a press conference held by opposition Rajya Sabha members on Wednesday, Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha JP Nadda said, “The Speaker’s acceptance cannot be questioned and the Speaker’s decision cannot be criticized for other purposes. or questioned. Doing so is contempt for the speaker and the speaker. It is clearly specified.”
“I would like to say that unfortunately, yesterday, the leader of the opposition, Kharge ji, who is a senior leader… held a press conference and criticized the Speaker. This is offensive, scandalous… In the press conference, they alleged that they were not given an opportunity. The Speaker of the Opposition He has been writing letters to the party leader to participate in the assembly and to come to the chamber, but the opposition leader has always refused and he has not participated in the BAC (Business Advisory Committee) meeting even in the last meeting,” said Nadda. added
At a joint press conference on Wednesday, Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs including Leader of Opposition and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that they were not allowed to speak in the House. “Politics has given precedence to rules in the Rajya Sabha and the Speaker is involved in partisan behaviour,” Kharge had said.
In the House on Thursday, Kharge said, “I heard what the Leader of the House said… He said that one should not say anything against the order of the Speaker, and it is contempt. Ye log bhasiya ko bhatkana chanet hain (These people want to divert the subject).
Dhankhar replied, “Have you come to the Business Advisory Committee?” Have you accepted my invitation?”
After that, the House was adjourned till 2 o’clock in the afternoon.
In the Lok Sabha, there was an initial uproar after BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, who was presiding over the proceedings, objected to Congress MP S Jothimani naming the industrialist in the House. Jothimani said that his name was not included in the record.
Pal allowed Congress MP KC Venugopal to speak and asked why the “wild allegations” leveled by BJP leaders were not dropped. Venugopal said that at Zero Hour on Wednesday, Union Minister Piyush Goyal reiterated all the allegations raised by Dubey earlier this week. He pointed out that zero time is the time when MPs should have priority, but the minister used that time to accuse the opposition leader. “But you removed the names from Jothimani’s speech but let the allegations against Congress leaders remain. It is a double standard,” Venugopal said.
Pal then said: “KC Venugopal has raised some issues. The name of the member who is not present cannot be mentioned.”
Several senior Congress MPs stood up to question why the industrialist’s name was omitted in reference to Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, who is not a member of the lower house.
Pal justified the move by saying that the allegations were against members of the House. He then called Dubey to raise a matter of public importance at zero time. Dubey said, “I have 10 questions for the Congress and Rahul Gandhi. In the last four years, the opposition did not let us speak.
“FDL-AP which considers Kashmir as a separate country. What is the connection between the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and Sonia Gandhi? It is funded by Soros,” Dubey said, referring to the Forum of Democratic Leaders in the Asia-Pacific. He made several allegations against the Congress leadership saying that Sonia had met Soros during her visits to India in 2004 and 2009.
Congress MPs and other opposition MPs stood in protest. Some Congress MPs reached the House. Dipendra Hooda and Pappu Yadav climbed the Speaker’s dais while others raised slogans asking Pal to stop Dubey.
While Dubey was speaking, Pal adjourned the House.
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