Oppn-Govt standoff paralyses Parliament proceedings; 4 Cong MPs suspended

Proceedings in Parliament remained paralysed for the sixth day on Monday as the stalemate over the Opposition's demand for immediate discussions on price rise and GST hike in both Houses deepened with four Congress members suspended in Lok Sabha for the rest of the session for causing disruptions.

Speaker Om Birla took a stern view of the continued disruptions by protesting opposition members who carried placards and shouted slogans ignoring his requests and warnings, and the government brought a motion for suspending Congress members Manickam Tagore, TN Prathapan, Jothimani and Ramya Haridas for the remainder of the session.

A furious Congress termed the action a ''blot on democracy'' and alleged that the government was trying to intimidate them for raising people's issues.

Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha saw repeated adjournments as opposition members stuck to their demand for suspending all business and holding an immediate discussion on price rise and GST hike while the government maintained that it was ready to discuss the issue once Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recovers from COVID-19.

The Lok Sabha has passed only one bill so far. The Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022, which seeks to extend the application of domestic laws to research stations set up by India in the Antarctic region, was cleared on Friday.

In Rajya Sabha, a discussion on The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022, started on Monday amid the din by opposition members.

Both the houses have seen frequent adjournments for the past week since the Monsoon Session of Parliament started on July 18.

Defending the suspension of Congress MPs, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that they had shown ''utter disregard'' for the Chair and a ''serious note of their misconduct'' was taken by the House.

Congress' leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleged the government wants to ''throttle'' the voice of the Opposition by resorting to such ''tactics of intimidation''.

''The entire Opposition had been in one voice to call for discussion on price rise,'' he said, adding that this was conveyed during the all-party meeting convened by Union Minister Rajnath Singh last Sunday.

He alleged that the government is shying away from having discussion on price rise and added that finding no alternative in Parliament, they shouted in support of their demand as it is their duty to raise issues of common people.

''This government has resorted to a brutal measure by suspending our MPs only to throttle the voice of the Opposition. It is an anathema to the democratic ethos of our country. Day in and day out, the rights of the people, the institution of democracy is being trampled upon,'' he said.

In Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla earlier warned the protesting members, including from the Congress, TMC and DMK, that those who continue to shout slogans and display placards will have to do it outside the House.

TMC MPs, who were part of the protesting opposition parties till 2 PM, did not join the protests after the House assembled at 3 PM and they remained seated in their seats.

As the House resumed, Congress members continued sloganeering, drowning the voices of members participating in the Zero Hour.

Rajendra Agarwal, who was chairing the proceedings, implored the unrelenting opposition members to take note of the warning given by the Speaker.

The House then passed the resolution by a voice vote and Agarwal announced their suspension. He then asked the members named in the resolution to immediately leave the House. The proceedings were subsequently adjourned for the day.

The Rajya Sabha also saw three adjournments - first till 3 PM and then till 4 PM and again for ten minutes till 5 PM after unrelenting protests by the opposition members seeking a discussion on price rise.

However, when the house met at 4 PM, Sasmit Patra, who was in the chair, asked the BJP member G V L Narasimha Rao to initiate the discussion on the Weapons of Mass Destruction Amendment Bill.

As the debate on the bill started, opposition members continued with their slogan-shouting and display of placards in the well. Some opposition members also raised several points of order.

Protesting members went back to their seats many times to allow the point of order to be taken up and then returned to the well to protest.

Patra had to adjourn the house for 10 minutes till 5 pm after Trinamool Congress member Abir Ranjan Biswas refused to heed his request to stop showing a placard behind BJP member Ajay Pratap Singh, who was speaking on the bill.

BJP member BL Verma also tried to block the view of the placards mentioning petrol price shooting above Rs 100 and showing price comparison between 2013 and April 2021 when it reached Rs 104 per liter. The placard was torn by a BJP member.

Amid the protest, BJP member Sikander Kumar, Tamil Maanila Congress (M) GK Vasan and Singh spoke in favour of the bill and accused the opposition of creating disturbances.

Vasan and Singh condemned the behaviour of Opposition members for creating a disturbance in the House when a bill having an impact on national security was being discussed.

GVL Narsimha Rao (BJP) said the legislation is an important tool in controlling the financing of terrorist activities. He alleged that international obligations of the country are being ignored due to these disruptions.

Mahesh Jethmalani (BJP) noted that the genesis of the bill lies in global apprehensions that nuclear weapons could fall into unwanted hands. He said the bill is part of a UN obligation which has asked nations to bring laws for preventive action to prevent funds from being used to finance terror or weapons of mass destruction.

The 2005 Act brought by the UPA did not include the issue of financing of terror and thus the need for the current amendment in the bill, he said.

Jethmalani also accused the Opposition of ''destroying the country'', a remark that was objected to by some members who demanded that it be expunged.

He attacked opposition members for disrupting the House during the discussion of such important legislation.

Ajay Pratap Singh (BJP) said it was the tradition of the house to allow discussion whenever the issue of national security is discussed.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, ''Today Rajya Sabha ran for some 90 minutes after 4 pm but there was absolute chaos with Modi Government simply not agreeing to combined Opposition (TMC and AAP included) demand for an urgent debate on price rise & GST. Bogus assurances of debate at some unspecified later date will not do!'' Earlier in Lok Sabha, the Speaker on behalf of the House congratulated Droupadi Murmu for taking over as the President and that people are proud of it.

The House also expressed its appreciation for Neeraj Chopra winning the silver medal at the World Championships in the javelin throw final. Birla said that Chopra's historic win will also be an inspiration for the country's youth.

Since the start of the Monsoon session of Parliament on July 18, opposition parties, including the Congress, have been protesting against price rise and various other issues.