Lok Sabha meets for less than an hour in first week amid ruckus over Adani row, other issues

New Delhi : The Lok Sabha functioned for less than an hour and the Rajya Sabha for about 75 minutes in the first week of Parliament Winter Session marred by protests by opposition over host of issues including the Adani bribery case, Manipur, and violence in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh.

Both the houses of Parliament were adjourned for the fourth straight day on Friday due to protests. Parliament will reconvene next week on December 2.

In Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla said people want the House to function while in Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said the protesting members were setting a bad precedent.

The Winter Session of Parliament began on Monday. The proceedings were adjourned as opposition started protesting in both houses. There was no business on Tuesday on account of Constitution Day. The proceedings were adjourned in both bouses on Wednesday too for the same reason. Protest continued on Thursday and returned on Friday, too.

The Congress and other opposition parties are demanding a discussion on Manipur violence and bribery charges against the Adani Group. The INDIA bloc is demanding a JPC Probe into allegations against the Adani group. Opposition MPs in both Houses of Parliament raised slogans inside the Parliament.

Only a few questions could be taken up in Lok Sabha through out the week. Also, a motion for extending the tenure of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Wakf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was adopted in Lok Sabha. No other business could be taken up. Lok Sabha functioned for six minutes on Monday while it ran for 16 minutes on Wednesday, 14 minutes on Thursday, and 20 minutes on Friday.

The Rajya Sabha functioned for 33 minutes, 13 minutes, 16 minutes and 13 minutes respectively, according to a report in Deccan Herald.

The Congress, however, questioned, what it called the ‘big mystery’ asking why the Modi government is not resisting the adjournments. 

“On the contrary, the Govt is facilitating the aggression of the INDIA parties on Modani especially – as also on Manipur, Sambhal, and Delhi’s law and order. Clearly it has much to feel defensive and apologetic about,” Congress general secretary in-charge, communications, Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.