Parliament LIVE updates: Anand Sharma's comment reignited chaos in the House as members started noisily protesting. BJP leaders shouted down Sharma, while Congress members roared in support of the senior Congress leader's demand that BJP should withdraw its statement demanding apology from Rahul Gandhi. The Chairman then adjourned the House for the day, within four minutes of reconvening the Rajya Sabha.
The Rajya Sabha will resume at 2 pm. Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu requested to have a peaceful conduct of the house and allow issues to be discussed in the first few minutes of the session before it was adjourned.
Speaking outside the Parliament after the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi took on the Narendra Modi government, saying the prime minister sat on farmers' loans for four years and didn't waive a single rupee. He asserted that this was injustice for the farmers. The Congress president highlighted that the party had already waived the loans of farmers in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, two of the three states where the Congress came to power after the Assembly elections. Rahul demanded an answer from Modi on why he had not waived farmers' loans yet, when he could work for the benefit of big corporates.
The Lok Sabha session had resumed at noon amid shots of "chowkidaar chor hai'. The ruckus continued even as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan tried to get the session underway. Mahajan appealed to MPs to allow the session to proceed, saying Parliament was a place for discussion. As her appeals fell on deaf ears, she adjourned the Lok Sabha for the day.
"The government is ready to discuss anything you want, but this is not the way. It is not giving a good message. We have to face the public. I'm requesting you again and again. Whatever discussions you want will be done as per the rules," she said. "People abroad also ask what is happening in India?... We must show some responsibility. I'll request the government myself to hold a discussion. We must maintain a standard in Parliament."
Earlier, the House was adjourned within minutes of convening amid slogans of "Rahul Gandhi maafi mango" and "Rahul Gandhi chor hai" shouted by BJP members. Congress MPs also countered with shouts of "Modi sarkar chor hai", when Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House till 12 pm. Rajya Sabha was also adjourned till 2 pm amid ruckus over the Rafale deal.
BJP MPs Sanjay Jaiswal, Anurag Thakur and Nishikant Dubey have moved a privilege motion in the Lok Sabha against Congress president Rahul Gandhi on the Rafale controversy, seeking action against Rahul over his speech during the debate on the no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government in Parliament's Monsoon Session. Congress MP KC Venugopal, too, has moved a privilege motion against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the government submitted misrepresented facts on the Rafale deal to the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the All India Trinamool Congress party has given a notice under Rule 267 in Rajya Sabha to take up discussion on the rising unemployment and lack of job opportunities, another thorny issue that the Opposition parties use to corner the government.
The Rafale row was expected to rock Parliament on the sixth straight day of the Winter Session even as the first week was a wash out over the controversy. The Congress party will move an Adjournment Motion for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation into the deal.
Representational image. PTI
Moreover, Left parties will seek a reply from the government on the questions raised against the Supreme Court verdict on the Rafale deal last Friday. The Congress and BJP, meanwhile, are locked in a battle of privilege motions, with the Congress giving a notice against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the BJP responding with its own notice against Rahul Gandhi.
Monday, too, saw a stormy session in Parliament as the Lower House was adjourned for three times over Opposition protests relating to the Rafale issue. The Congress on Monday gave notices of breach of privilege in both Houses of Parliament, demanding an explanation from the Centre on why it provided the Supreme Court "wrong" information on the Rafale deal. Likewise, three members of the ruling party — Anurag Thakur, Nishikant Dubey and Sanjay Jaiswal — in the Lok Sabha too moved a notice of breach of privilege against the Congress president, alleging that he spoke "falsehood" and "misled the House" over the fighter aircraft deal in his speech during a debate in July.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned thrice since it met in the morning, before being adjourned for the day, as the treasury and the opposition benches sparred over the Rafale jet deal issue with both sides raising slogans against each other.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said it was unfortunate that the Opposition members were not allowing the Lok Sabha to function. The BJP workers and leaders also held protests in several parts of the country against the Congress party over the Rafale issue.
Other businesses listed for the day include a discussion on the increased frequency of natural calamities in coastal India and the Centre's preparedness in dealing with it. P Venugopal will raise a discussion on the natural calamities in various parts of the country, particularly in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Odisha, with special reference to cyclones Gaja, Titli, etc.
In legislative business, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan is set to move the Consumer Protection Bill, 2018, in Lok Sabha to establish authorities for timely and effective administration and settlement of consumers' disputes. Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is likely to move for passage The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Bill, 2018. Suresh Prabhu will introduce The National Institute of Design (Amendment) Bill, 2018 to amend the National Institute of Design Act, 2014.
