Parliament updates: Lok Sabha adjourned till tomorrow amid uproar, no-confidence motions not taken up

Budget Session of Parliament updates: Following continuous uproar in the Lok Sabha, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House till Tuesday. TRS, TDP and YSRCP MPs trooped into the Well, while chanting slogans such as “We want justice”. Mahajan tried to introduce the no-confidence motion notices but requested all MPs to sit at their designated spots so that a quorum could be established. Opposition members and other parties’ MPs continued to create a ruckus, forcing the House to be adjourned for the day. Even as the Lower House resumed its proceedings, sloganeering dominated the scene as TDP, AIADMK MPs could be heard shouting “We want justice”. However, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan began with day’s business, asking ministers to lay their papers on the table. Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant told  ANI that the party will abstain from the no-confidence motion. “We will neither support the government nor the Opposition. We will abstain,” he said.

In less than two minutes of being in session, the Lok Sabha was adjourned till 12 pm. As soon as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan entered the House, loud protests and sloganeering dominated the scene, making it impossible for any business to be conducted amid the din. The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day.

Ahead of Monday’s Parliament session, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said that the saffron party was ready to face the no-confidence motion as it is sure it has the necessary support. The Parliament secretariat received three separate notices for a no-confidence motion against the BJP government on Monday, two of which were from TDP and one from the YSR Congress, reported ANI. Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan is likely to take up the notices after Question Hour if the House is in order. It is expected to be a stormy day in the Parliament on Monday, especially for the Lok Sabha where the two no-confidence motions against the Narendra Modi-led NDA government by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and YSR Congress Party are likely to be taken up. On Friday, the proceedings in Parliament were washed out for the second consecutive week due to protests by Opposition parties, which also led to the failure of the Lok Sabha to take up the notices for no-confidence motion moved by parties from Andhra Pradesh. While the Lok Sabha proceedings were first adjourned till noon and then for the day, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned straight till 2.30 pm and later for the day with Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu expressing anguish over the proceedings being paralysed ever since Parliament resumed its budget session on 5 March after a recess. In the Lok Sabha, the notices for the no-confidence motion, moved for the first time since the nearly four-year rule of the BJP-led alliance, were not taken up as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who said there was no order in the House and adjourned the proceedings for the day amid vociferous protests over various issues. [caption id=“attachment_4378183” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of the Parliament. PTI[/caption] The notices were moved by the YSR Congress and the TDP, who have been demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh, an issue on which the latter on Friday quit the ruling alliance. The no-confidence notices were moved by YSR Congress member YV Subba Reddy and TDP’s Thota Narasimham. The Lok Sabha proceedings were washed out for the 10th consecutive day following incessant protests and sloganeering by various parties, including TDP, YSR Congress, AIADMK and RJD over multiple issues, including special status for Andhra Pradesh and banking scam. Congress members were also seen standing at their seats. Soon after papers and reports were laid during the Zero Hour, Mahajan said she has received a notice for no-confidence motion. “I am duty-bound to bring it… provided the House is in order,” she said amid the din. “I request all of you to go back to your seats,” Mahajan told the members protesting in the Well. However as the members continued with the protests, the Speaker said since the House is not in order, she was unable to take up the notice and then adjourned the proceedings for the day. Members from TRS and AIADMK were in the Well holding placards and shouting slogans. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal made a statement regarding the government business to be taken up in the House next week. Soon after the House assembled at 11 am and was to take up the Question Hour, the proceedings were adjourned till noon due to the noisy scenes. The House also extended the time for the Joint Committee on the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017 to submit its report. Earlier, three newly elected MPs — RJD’s Sarfaraz Alam (Araria-Bihar) and SP members Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel (Phulpur-Uttar Pradesh) and Praveen Kumar Nishad (Gorakhpur-Uttar Pradesh) — took oath. The House also paid respect to three departed former members and noted cosmologist Stephen Hawking, who passed away this week. Tributes were also paid to nine CRPF personnel, who were killed in a IED blast in Chhattisgarh, on 13 March. Since Parliament reconvened on 5 March after Budget Session recess, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have been witnessing disruptions on a daily basis. On Wednesday amid chaos, the Lower House had passed the Finance Bill and appropriation bills without any discussion. The Rajya Sabha proceedings were abruptly adjourned soon after it met, following a brief argument between the Chairman and some Congress members. After tabling of the listed papers, Naidu expressed anguish saying the House has not functioned ever since it resumed on 5 March after recess during the Budget session. Before adjourning the House till 2.30 pm, the Chairman said there were larger issues like banking scam, Cauvery river water sharing, demand for a special package to Andhra Pradesh and sealing in the national capital, which were agitating the minds of people and needed to be discussed. He said notices given by members on these issues were accepted and he has agreed for a discussion on them but yet the House was not taking up the debates. Naidu hoped that the House would function normally from next week and have constructive proceedings. “I am very much pained that the Upper House of Parliament is not able to transact its business for last two weeks. Dont’t test my patience…We are meeting, greeting and not doing anything and adjourning,” he said. He said that “we have to go by consensus or by the majority of the House (on deciding the issues). You can’t dictate something and say whether you go my way or the highway. That is no way, I must tell you,” he said, adding that the Chair would not allow such a thing. Naidu also warned the protesting members to ensure smooth functioning of the House before “I take extreme views”. As he was making the appeal, Congress member Satyabrat Chaturvedi stood up and said he agreed with the Chair, but sought to know whether it was for the first time that he is witnessing such a scenario in Parliament. To this, Naidu asked if somebody committed a mistake in the past, does it mean that he should also do the same. “Do you want this sort of a thing to continue? … Is that your suggestion. Is this your party view?” As some other Congress members were on their feet trying to join the issue simultaneously, Naidu adjourned the House till 2.30 pm. When the House reassembled, Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien asked TDP MP YS Chowdary to complete his speech which he was making on Thursday when the House was adjourned. Chowdary said the earlier government had given several assurances to Andhra Pradesh about being compensated after Telangana was carved out of it. However, the state “lost” cosmopolitan city of Hyderabad and the revenue arising from various industries and has remained only an agrarian state only, but has not been compensated, he said. The bill to bifurcate the state would not have been passed if the assurances was not accepted by the members of the House, he said, amid protests by members from the Congress benches. As soon as he ended his speech, protests by some opposition members led the Deputy Chairman to adjourn the House for the day. With inputs from PTI