STATE TIMES NEWS
NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned on Thursday for the fourth consecutive day amid persistent protests by the Opposition demanding withdrawal of the ongoing voter roll revision in Bihar.
In the morning too, Speaker Om Birla had to adjourn proceedings when Opposition members raised slogans, entered the Well of the House and also displayed placards.
When the House met again at 2 pm, Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was chairing the House, urged members to participate in a bill which seeks to provide seats for Scheduled Tribes in the Goa Legislative Assembly.
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal questioned the Opposition for not allowing discussion on the bill which will benefit the Scheduled Tribe population of the state. As protests continued unabated, the proceedings were adjourned for the day.
Earlier in the day, Speaker Om Birla asked the protesting members to go back to their seats and assured that as per rules they will be given opportunities to raise issues.
He mentioned the name of senior Congress leader K C Venugopal and said it was not the culture of his party to indulge in sloganeering in the House.
Birla repeatedly mentioned that sloganeering and display of placards is not in accordance with the dignity of the House and wondered what kind of message such actions will send out.
As the din continued, Birla adjourned the proceedings in less than seven minutes.
One question was taken up before the proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm.
The opposition is demanding a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, an exercise initiated by the Election Commission ahead of the state assembly polls due later this year.
In the Rajya Sabha the opposition MPs raised slogans demanding the withdrawal of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
The Upper House was earlier adjourned till 2 pm, and when it reconvened, the Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, 2025 was taken up for discussion. AIADMK MP M Thambidurai, who could not complete his speech on the Bill on Wednesday amid protests, was asked to continue by Chair Bhubaneswar Kalita.
Opposition MPs continued their protest and raised slogans demanding that the SIR exercise be stopped. Several MPs trooped into the Well of the House, while many others were standing.
After Thambidurai, Ayodhya Rami Reddy of the YSRCP started speaking on the Bill. However, the protests continued and Opposition MPs came close to the member’s seat, raising slogans “SIR wapas lo” (roll back SIR).
As Reddy concluded his speech in the din, BJP MP Laxmikant Bajpayee objected to the slogans being raised by the opposition MPs.
“The MP is speaking with your permission and they are obstructing him… I urge you to take action against them,” he said.
Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said that Leader of Opposition (LoP) Mallikarjun Kharge should be allowed to speak. “The Leader of the House or Leader of the Opposition should be given priority to speak. The LoP is on his feet but you are not giving him a chance to speak, nor are you giving any assurance… I need a ruling on that,” said Tiwari.
Amid the din, the Chair adjourned the House for the day.
Earlier, the Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm amid the Opposition uproar following rejection of their adjournment notices demanding discussion on various issues, including the SIR exercise in Bihar.
Soon after the House bid farewell to six retiring members, opposition MPs started protesting against Deputy Chairman Harivansh’s decision to decline 30 notices under Rule 267, demanding discussion on SIR, alleged discrimination against migrant workers from Bengal in other states, resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar as vice president and increasing instances of cyber fraud.
Amid uproar, the proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm.
Ujjwal Deorao Nikam (Nominated) also took oath as a member of the Rajya Sabha on Thursday morning.
During the Zero Hour, the Chair had announced its decision to decline the 30 notices, resulting in a mild protest. However, Harivansh convinced the protesting opposition members to allow the House to bid farewell to the six retiring members.
Harivansh, Leader of the House J P Nadda and senior members from various parties spoke highly about the contribution of the retiring members towards strengthening democratic traditions.
The terms of M Mohamed Abdulla (DMK), N Chandrasegharan (AIADMK), Anbumani Ramadoss (PMK), M Shanmugam (DMK), Vaiko (MDMK) and P Wilson (DMK) came to an end.
The farewell speeches continued even during the Question Hour, which starts at noon. However, when the speeches were over around 12.30 pm, the opposition again started the protest, forcing the Chair to adjourn the proceedings till 2 pm.