Lok Sabha adjourned till 2 pm to facilitate MPs to vote in prez poll

And since the election to the president is underway, it should also be celebrated, he said.Members should participate in the festival, the speaker said, and declared the House adjourned till 2 pm.Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and Congress leader of the house Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were among those present in the House.

Lok Sabha's Monsoon session began on Monday with obituary references and new members taking oath and was then adjourned till 2 pm so members could vote in the presidential poll. Three newly-elected MPs — Bollywood actor and Trinamool Congress' Shatrughan Sinha (West Bengal) and two BJP members from Uttar Pradesh Dinesh Lal Yadav Nirahua and Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi — took oath as members of the Lok Sabha.

Speaker Om Birla then read out obituary references to three foreign leaders — former Japan prime minister Shinzo Abe, United Arab Emirates president and Abu Dhabi ruler Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Kenya's third president Mwai Kibaki.

The speaker also read out obituary references of eight former members of the House who passed away recently. They are -- Rabindra Kumar Rana (Bihar), T Basheer (Kerala), Nawal Kishore Rai (Bihar), Sukh Ram (Himachal Pradesh), Hussain Dalwai (Maharashtra), Shivaji Patnaik (Odisha), Chakra Dhari Singh (Madhya Pradesh) and Harivansh Sahai (Uttar Pradesh).

Some opposition members tried to raise some issues but the speaker did not allow them to do so, indicating he would like to say something.

Birla said elections in India are celebrated as a festival. And since the election to the president is underway, it should also be celebrated, he said.

Members should participate in the festival, the speaker said, and declared the House adjourned till 2 pm.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and Congress leader of the house Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were among those present in the House.