Both Houses of the Parliament have been adjourned for break to meet again on 9th of next month. The first leg of the Budget Session had begun on 28th of last month with the address of President Droupadi Murmu to the joint sitting of both Houses.
The budget session is being held in two phases. The second phase will take place from 9th March to 2nd April of this year.
In the Lok Sabha, when the House met after the first adjournment at 12:00 noon, several Ministers laid papers related to their Ministry on the table. After that, the Presiding officer Sandhya Ray adjourned the House.
Earlier, when the House assembled for the day, the Presiding officer Sandhya Ray made an obituary reference over the demise of former MP Bhagwan Dass Rathor, who passed away on 21st January. The House also observed silence as a mark of respect to the departed leader.
After that the Presiding officer took up Question Hour in which Union Health Minister J P Nadda tried to reply to a question on deaths due to consumption of Codeine based cough syrup but he could not complete his reply following opposition uproar.
The opposition members including Congress, TMC and DMK among others trooped into the well and started sloganeering. She urged members to allow the House to function so that the other members could speak during Question Hour. The opposition members continued with their protest, leading to the adjournment of the House till 12 noon.
Meanwhile Rajya Sabha has also adjourned for break to meet again on 9th of next month. In the Upper House, proceedings during both Zero Hour and Question Hour were conducted smoothly. When the House met at 11:00 AM, several members laid papers on the table.
Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan read a message of President Droupadi Murmu, saying that she had received the expression of thanks by the members of the Rajya Sabha for the address delivered to both Houses of the Parliament on 28th of January. After that the House took up Zero Hour, where the Members from different political parties raised issues of urgent importance.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the next course of action over the Substantive Motion, moved by Nishikant Dubey against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi will decide after discussing with the Speaker, whether it will be sent to the Privilege Committee or Ethics Committee or brought directly to the House for discussion.
Talking to the media, Mr Rijiju further added that the government has for now decided not to move its proposed motion against Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, after a Substantive Motion was brought by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.
The Minister said any Member of Parliament is entitled to bring a motion under parliamentary rules.
Mr Rijiju alleged that Mr. Gandhi violated parliamentary rules by referring to an unpublished book and making certain remarks during his Budget speech that the government considers objectionable.
He claimed Gandhi used phrases such as ‘country sold out’ in reference to the Prime Minister, which the government views as inappropriate and unparliamentary.
Meanwhile, Minister of Textiles Giriraj Singh criticised opposition parties for spreading confusion among the people about the India-US deal.
Talking to reporters outside Parliament, he said that the Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal have clarified that there will be no tampering with the interests of the farmers.
