Both houses of Parliament adjourned early amid uproar over the Adani issue and demand by ruling party members that Rahul Gandhi apologise for his ‘democracy in danger’ remarks.
The opposition leaders also hung a banner that read “We want JPC” from the first floor of the Parliament building.
The House will meet again on March 23.
TMC MPs held a separate protest in the Parliament complex and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi break his silence on the Adani issue.
Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have failed to transact any significant business so far due to the impasse during the second part of the Budget session of Parliament that started on March 13.
Here are the top developments:
Irresponsible Opposition wilfully stalling Parliament: Piyush Goyal
Union minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday accused the Opposition of willfully stalling Parliament with its “irresponsible” comments and “unfounded” allegations to mislead the country amid global recognition of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.
Goyal, joined by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, accused the Opposition of repeatedly insulting Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar by refusing to even meet him.
Even on Tuesday, some parties including the Congress did not attend the meeting called by him. Though they were present in the meeting called by Speaker Om Birla, he alleged.
Kharge stopped from speaking: Congress
The Congress hit back at Goyal and said that the Leader of the House got “his MPs to prevent the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge from speaking twice after the Chairman had permitted him”.
Piyush Goyal is accusing Oppn of boycotting meeting called by Chairman RS. This is from the Leader of the House who… https://t.co/IoTRUkxHmk
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) 1679389995000
“Piyush Goyal is accusing Oppn of boycotting meeting called by Chairman RS. This is from the Leader of the House who got his MPs to prevent LoP Kharge ji from speaking twice after Chairman had permitted him. Silencing of LoP is also an issue quite apart from the JPC on Adani,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter.
In another tweet, Ramesh said, “How can the Oppn demand for a JPC into the PM-linked Adani scam be linked to the BJP’s demand for an apology from Rahul Gandhi on totally baseless accusations. The JPC is on a real, documented scam. The apology demand is a hoax being raised to divert attention from the Adani scam.”
Ramesh said this morning Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Kharge was given permission by the Chairman to speak and got up to do so but was not allowed by sloganeering BJP MPs. “Chairman then adjourned RS. How can the logjam be broken if Modi Government behaves like this,” he said.
Rahul present-day Mir Jafar: BJP
BJP leader Sambit Patra hit out at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and said that he is the “present-day Mir Jafar” of Indian Polity and said that he has to apologise for his remarks in the UK.
Mir Jafar was a military general who betrayed Siraj ud-Daulah and helped the East India Company in the battle of Plassey in June 1757. Siraj was captured soon thereafter and later executed.
“He always defames the nation. He is the present-day Mir Jafar of Indian Polity,” Patra said, adding: “He insulted the country and ask the foreign power to intervene in the country. This is a consistent ‘conspiracy’ of Congress and Rahul Gandhi. His participation is least in Parliament and he says that no one allows him to speak.”
Patra further said: “Mir Zafar did the same thing, he gave 24 Parganas to get help from East India Company and now Rahul is doing the same kind of politics.”
“He is asking for help from foreign countries to become ‘Sahzada’ in India, Patra added.
Further, attacking Gandhi on his remarks of saying ‘unfortunately I’m an MP,’ Patra said, “Rahul Gandhi doesn’t know what to say. He speaks only with the help of Jairam Ramesh. He himself said that ‘unfortunately I am an MP”.
Criticising government is not criticising the nation: Congress
Congress leader Pawan Khera on Tuesday slammed BJP leader Sambit Patra after the latter compared Rahul Gandhi with Mir Jafar and said that he would soon get a “strong answer”.
While talking to the mediapersons, Khera said, “Criticizing government is not criticizing the nation. Government should understand this. The debate does not make democracy weaken instead it strengthens it. The government is doing this drama because they are trying to escape the opposition’s questions.”
“They are worried that Rahul Gandhi might again ask the PM about his relations with Adani. There is no JPC probe yet, this is the reason they are creating so much drama,” he added.
He added, “He will get a strong answer soon. We are also learning from them (BJP) how to give answers. Soon action will be done on his statement.”
Taking a barb at the BJP, he said the party will be seen as “Jai Chands” in history and claimed its ideological forefathers were known apologisers of the British.
A fictional account of King Jayachandra (aka Jaichand) occurs in a legendary text
Prithviraj Raso
.
The epic poem was likely written centuries after his death. According to this account, he was a rival of King Prithviraj Chauhan.
His daughter Samyukta eloped with Prithviraj against his wishes, and he allied with the foreign non-Hindu Ghurids to ensure Prithviraj’s downfall.
The name “Jaichand” became synonymous with the word “traitor” in folklore of northern India because of this legend.
Rahul writes to Lok Sabha Speaker
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has asserted that he has the right to respond in Parliament to the “totally baseless” and “unfair charges” hurled at him by senior ministers in the Lok Sabha over his democracy remarks.
In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Gandhi invoked Rule 357 which allows for “personal explanations” and also cited the example of BJP MP and then minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who invoked the Rule to give an explanation regarding comments made by Jyotiraditya Scindia in relation to him in Parliament
“I am making such a request again. I am seeking this permission under the conventions of Parliamentary practice, the constitutionally embedded rules of natural justice and Rule 357 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha,” he said in his letter to the Speaker.
The Congress leader said members of the ruling regime have made “scurrilous and defamatory claims against me” both within and outside Parliament.
“As a result of these allegations, and the rules invoked by these individuals, it is only appropriate that you kindly allow me a right to reply as contained in Rule 357 which allows for ‘personal explanations’,” he said.
Gandhi’s democracy remarks have triggered a massive political row, with the BJP accusing him of maligning India on foreign soil and seeking foreign interventions and the Congress hitting back, citing instances of PM Modi raising internal politics abroad.
During his interactions in the United Kingdom recently, Gandhi had alleged that the structures of Indian democracy are under attack and there is a “full-scale assault” on the country’s institutions.
TMC holds separate protest
TMC MPs held a separate protest in the Parliament complex and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi break his silence on the Adani issue.
Accusing the government of helping businessman Gautam Adani by not ordering a probe into allegations of fraud levelled against his group, the party demanded that Adani be arrested.
“Adani should be arrested. Modi is trying to protect Adani in the Rs 1 lakh crore scam. This is also the reason why they are not allowing any discussion in Parliament. The TMC leadership has already demanded that the 10 non-BJP states should begin their own probe into this and ensure that public money is not misused,” said TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien.
TMC Lok Sabha MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay demanded an explanation from the prime minister on how public money was used by Adani. “PM Modi should explain this in the House. How LIC-SBI money ended up with Adani,” he said.
Next sitting on March 23
Lok Sabha Chair Rajendra Agarwal wished MPs for various festivals, including Chaitra Sukhladi, Gudi Padwa, Ugadi, Cheti Chand, Navre and Sajibu Cheiraoba.
He also said on the request of several members to enable them to participate in the festivities, the House will not have a sitting on Wednesday and instead it would meet on March 23.
(With inputs from agencies)
Watch Opposition parties protest inside Parliament amid Adani row, demand JPC probe