Both Houses Of Parliament Adjourned Till Monday After Row Over Rahul Gandhi's Remarks, Adani

Both Houses of the Parliament have been adjourned till March 20, Monday as the opposition and ruling party members created an uproar on the fifth consecutive day.

While the Opposition has been demanding a discussion and a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the Adani issue, ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members are demanding an apology from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his "democracy-under-threat" remarks made in London recently. Soon after the listing of papers, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said he had received 11 adjournment notices under Rule 267, but disallowed those.

"After carefully going through the issues, the notices, I find, cannot be allowed," he said. Thereafter, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge sought to speak but was not allowed, triggering an uproar by the members of the Congress and other opposition parties. The members of the treasury benches also stood up in protest in the Rajya Sabha.

Amid slogan shouting, the chairman adjourned the House till Monday. The Upper House of Parliament has not transacted any business since the second part of the budget session began on Monday due to uproarious scenes in the House.

Opposition MPs Neeraj Dangi, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Kumar Ketkar, Syed Naseer Hussain, Amee Yajnik and Sandosh Kumar P had given notices to discuss the government's failure to constitute a JPC on charges of corporate fraud, stock market manipulation and financial mismanagement against the Adani Group, a business conglomerate headed by industrialist Gautam Adani.

Notices were also given by Ranjeet Ranjan, KC Venugopal, Sanjay Singh and Pramod Tiwari to discuss the government's "questionable" role in promoting the business interests of the Adani Group.

Dhankhar said Elamaram Kareem has raised a demand to discuss the Hindenburg report on the Adani Group, which has put government deposits in public-sector banks and the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India in danger. A notice was also received from Jebi Mather beyond the stipulated time and therefore, it was not considered, the chairman said.

Privilege Motion Against PM Modi

Congress leader KC Venugopal moved a motion of privilege against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rajya Sabha for his alleged defamatory remarks against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi made during his speech in the last Parliament session.

Modi allegedly attacking Gandhi family members, had asked them why they were ashamed of using the Nehru surname and also criticised Jawaharlal Nehru as well as Indira Gandhi for repeatedly using Article 356 to topple state governments led by non-Congress parties.

“The above mentioned remarks prima facie made in a mocking manner are not only disgraceful but also insulting and defamatory vis-a-vis the members of Nehru family particularly Smt. Sonia Gandhi and Shri Rahul Gandhi who are Members of Lok Sabha," Venugopal wrote in his notice.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan listed the business of the House for the week starting March 20 and said according to government business, the House will hold a discussion on the functioning of the ministries of skill development, rural development, cooperation, textiles, new and renewable energy, fisheries, animal Husbandry and dairy and railways.

Besides, he said the government business in the House includes taking up the demands for grants for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the consideration and return of an appropriation bill relating to final and supplementary demands after it is passed by the Lok Sabha.

(With inputs from PTI)