Budget Session ends as both Houses of Parliament adjourn indefinitely; Rajya Sabha lost 120 hours

Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned indefinitely on Friday, bringing an end to the Budget Session — half of which was completely washed out in disruptions. As the Lok Sabha met on the final day of the session, AIADMK MPs protested near Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s podium, demanding the setting up of the Cauvery Management Board. [caption id=“attachment_4279627” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] Mahajan asked the MPs to return to their seats so that the no-confidence motion moved by Opposition against the government can be taken up, but the protests continued. The Lok Sabha Speaker made an emotional appeal to the protesting MPs, and even reminded them that Friday was the last day of the Budget Session, but all were ignored. “This Sabha is for a platform the raise issues for the welfare of the people. I understand that MPs have several issues they want to raise but they should keep in mind that the country has a variety of issues which need to be focused on,” she said in her concluding speech. With the protesting MPs not willing to settle down, Mahajan decided to adjourn the Lower House sine die. Even before the beginning of the proceedings of the House, five YSR Congress Party MPs submitted their resignation to Mahajan over the Centre’s failure to accord special status to Andhra Pradesh. The proceedings of the Rajya Sabha started smoothly with MPs laying papers on the table. However, soon after that MPs started raising slogans inside the House. Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu appealed to the MPs to settle down, but his requests were ignored. Naidu then announced to adjourn the House indefinitely. In his valedictory remarks, Naidu rued that he had little to say in terms of what the Rajya Sabha did but a lot to say what it did not. “No legislative business apart from passing of the Payment of Gratuity Bill could be transacted. Even the general Budget was not discussed nor the Finance and Appropriation Bills were discussed and returned to the Lok Sabha,” Naidu said.

He lamented that even a farewell to the retiring members could not be done smoothly on the fixed day and had to be “negotiated” subsequently. Naidu asked the MPs to “introspect” and try to create a “win-win situation, not the lose-lose situation”. With protests remaining the hallmark of Friday’s business as well, the Budget Session of the Parliament was a complete washout with MPs from different parties protesting over several issues both inside and outside both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Both Houses have seen repeated adjournments since the second leg of the Budget Session reconvened on 5 March over several issues. While AIADMK MPs have been protesting over the Centre’s failure to form the Cauvery Management Board, whereas Congress has been opposing it. TDP and YSR Congress Party from Andhra Pradesh have been protesting demanding special status for the state while MPs of Congress, BSP and SP have been protesting over the recent Supreme Court order which diluted the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The TDP and other Opposition parties have also been protesting in the House seeking a no-confidence motion to be taken against the NDA government at the Centre in the Lok Sabha. Though Mahajan has often expressed her willingness to take the motion, the Lok Sabha throughout the second leg of the Budget session was adjourned due to disruptions before the no-confidence motion could be taken. TMC, in the meanwhile, has been protesting in the Parliament over the Punjab National Bank fraud which saw the government-owned bank making a loss of over Rs 12,000 crore through fraudulent transactions. The disruptions have impacted legislative business in both Houses with only three bills being introduced between 29 January 2018 and 6 April 2018 during Budget session. The Lok Sabha passed just three bills — Specific Relief Amendment Bill 2017, Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill 2017 and the Finance Bill 2018 — while the Rajya Sabha managed to pass just one bill — the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill 2017 — on 22 March. As for reports, the two Houses in the Parliament presented just one report on the National Medical Commission Bill, 2017 by the Health and Family Welfare. Overall, the Upper house worked for just 45 hours in around 30 sittings while it lost 120 hours in disruptions, IANS said. With inputs from IANS