New Delhi: Parliamentary proceedings on Thursday were washed out amid noisy protests by the Congress-led opposition, which sought a discussion over research group Hindenburg’s report on Adani Group.
Both Houses were adjourned till Friday 11am.
As political temperatures soared over the matter, leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge led a demand by the opposition parties, seeking a probe by a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) or by a team under the Chief Justice of India’s supervision into the research group’s report.
Both the Houses were adjourned within minutes of assembling at 11am amid noisy protests by the opposition members.
The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned till 2pm.
As soon as the Lok Sabha reconvened at 2pm after its proceedings were earlier adjourned at 11.05am over the same issue, the opposition members from the Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, Left and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray group) stormed into the Well of the House, seeking a discussion on the Adani group issue.
Members from the Samajwadi Party, NCP, JD(U) and Bharat Rashtra Samithi stood near their seats in support of the protesting members.
Rajendra Agrawal, who was in the chair, asked the members to return to their seats, saying that they would be given a chance to speak.
As noisy protests by the opposition members continued, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi urged the opposition members to allow the motion of thanks on the President’s address to commence.
“Parliament is for discussion, therefore the first priority is always to allow the motion of thanks on the President’s address. Kindly don’t set a wrong precedent,” Joshi could be heard saying amid the ruckus.
As protests continued, Rajendra Agrawal adjourned the House till Friday.
Soon after, the Rajya Sabha, which too had earlier been adjourned till 2pm, was also adjourned for the day amid protests by the opposition members on Adani issue.
Earlier in the morning, as soon as the Lok Sabha had convened for the day, the opposition members rushed to the Well raising slogans, seeking a discussion on Adani and Hindenburg report.
Speaker Om Birla had just welcomed a Parliamentary delegation from Zambia and started the Question Hour, when the ruckus began.
Birla objected to the noisy scenes and asked the members not to make unsubstantiated claims. As the slogan shouting continued, he adjourned the proceedings till 2pm.
Congress calls protest on Feb 6 over Hindenburg report
The Congress party has decided to hold nationwide district level protests on Monday, February 6, in front of the Life Insurance Corporation office and the State Bank of India office here over the Hindenburg report.
“The government can’t jeopardise the hard earned money of the people of India,” said KC Venugopal, party general secretary.
He said the LIC has invested Rs 36,474.78 crore in the Adani Group whereas Indian banks together have invested nearly Rs 80,000 crore in the group. They continue to do so even when there are allegations of stock manipulation, accounting fraud and other malfeasance.
The group has lost $100 billion since the Hindenberg report came out.
All the Pradesh Congress Committees have been requested to issue the necessary instructions to the District Congress Committees so that apart from senior leaders, party functionaries and workers, mobilisation from the BCC, Panchayat and Booth level is ensured in full measure.
