Parliament: Rajya Sabha Adjourned Till Lunch Amid Opposition Protest Over BAC Meeting

Parliament: The opposition parties in Rajya Sabha objected to the time allocation for passing a bill to link voter rolls to Aadhaar, without them being part of Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting.

Outlook Web Desk

Updated on: 21 December 2021 6:27 am

Rajya Sabha proceedings on Tuesday were adjourned till post-lunch session without transacting any business after opposition parties objected to the allocation of time for passage of a bill to link voter rolls to Aadhaar without them being part of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting.

Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu adjourned the proceedings of the House till 2 pm as Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge raised objection to BAC allocating three hours for passage of The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

Soon after the listed official papers were laid on the table, Naidu said the BAC at its meeting on December 20 allocated time for government legislative business. This included three hours for discussion and passage of the electoral bill.

While he was reading out the decision, opposition members from the Congress, the TMC and other parties questioned how the BAC could allocate time when they did not attend the meeting.

Besides the government, leaders of major opposition parties are represented at the BAC. The BAC decides on the time for discussions in the House.

"It is Business Advisory Committee, whoever attends it, attends it. Ok, you (opposition parties) have boycotted it... you have got a right to boycott," Naidu said.

The Chairman then went on to say that he had not admitted notices under rule 267, saying "let the House transact the business so that we can take up all these”.

The Congress and other opposition parties had given notices under rule 267 on the Lakhimpur killings. The rule calls for setting aside the business of the day to take up the issue being raised.

"This is not the way to point. Let the Hosue be in order," Naidu said as opposition members protested against the time allocation for the bill.

Kharge said when the opposition was not part of the BAC, "why we should accept it”.

"Don't accept it. The House accepts it," Naidu replied. "You are not understanding. If the members of (the Business Advisory Committee) choose not to come, what can anybody do."

TMC leader Derek O’Brien wanted to raise a point of order but Naidu abruptly adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.