New Delhi: On the first day of the monsoon session of Parliament, Rajya Sabha chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu adjourned proceedings for the day amid disruptions in the House from members of the opposition Congress regarding high commodity prices in the country as well as the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
While the chairman was speaking, Congress MPs entered the well of the house and started raising slogans, news agency PTI reported, prompting Naidu to call and end to the day’s proceedings.
“As some people have come determined not to allow the House to function and also enable members to go and vote in the Presidential election, I am adjourning the House for the day,” Naidu said.
Voting in the Presidential election is set to take place today, July 18. The Lok Sabha was also adjourned until 2 pm to allow its members to cast their votes.
Before his decision to adjourn the house, Naidu had appealed to the members of the Rajya Sabha to be “different and better”, citing that 57% of house sittings over the past five years had been disrupted, partially or fully, by sloganeering and unruly conduct.
This monsoon session also marks Naidu’s last as chairman as his term comes to an end August 10.
Prior to the adjournment of the Upper House, a number of new members took oath, including former cricketer Harbhajan Singh from Punjab.
Harbhajan Singh taking oath as a member of the Rajya Sabha. Photo: PTI.
Further, two Congress ministers, Deepinder Hooda and Shaktisinh Gohil moved adjournment notices in the house with regards to the Union government’s Agnipath scheme for short-term contractual recruitment into the armed forces.
Hooda sought discussion of the scheme and claimed that it had been “implemented across the country by the government unilaterally without any prior discussion and deliberation”.
Also read: The Agnipath Scheme May Be Designed to Ring the Death Knell of Indian Democracy
Gohil, meanwhile, sought for the withdrawal of the scheme, claiming that the nation’s youth were protesting against it because they were “agitated” by it.
Last month, protests against the scheme were launched by young aspirants for defence jobs. The protests began in Bihar and turned violent, leading to fires being lit and stones being pelted, before spreading to other nearby states as well.
Congress member K.C. Venugopal, meanwhile, submitted a suspension of business notice to discuss rising inflation and the increase in GST on certain commodities in the country.
Additionally, Union minister for commerce and industry Piyush Goyal was named by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the leader of the house, the Hindu reported.
The house also observed moments of silence after chairman Naidu made obituary references to the late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, santoor virtuoso Shivkumar Sharma, as well as formed MPs Kishore Kumar Mohanty, Robert Kharshiing, K. K. Veerappan.
Lok Sabha
Meanwhile, prior to the adjournment of the Lower House to allow members to vote in the presidential polls, a number of new members took oath.
Among them were Bollywood star Shatrugan Sinha, representing the Trinamool Congress (TMC) from Asansol in West Bengal; Simranjit Singh Mann of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Dal), who was elected in from Sangrur in the bypoll which took place late in June; and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators from Uttar Pradesh Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi (Rampur) and Dinesh Lal Yadan ‘Nirauha’ (Azamgarh).
Also read: Bypoll Results: Shock Defeat for AAP in Sangrur; Violence Amidst BJP Sweep in Tripura
Congress MPs in the Lok Sabha, too, submitted adjournment notices. Congress member Manickam Tagore raised the issue of the rising prices of LPG cylinders in the country while calling for adjournment, demanding that the government subsidise the cooking gas, according the New Indian Express.
“The government should come forward to reduce the price of domestic cylinders and petroleum products in the country to ensure a standardised price at least for a year,” Tagore said in his adjournment notice.
A tribute to Abe was also paid in the house by speaker Om Birla , as well as to former United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and former Kenya President Mwai Kibaki.
Further, tributes were paid and silence was maintained for deceased Lok Sabha members as well.
(With PTI inputs)