Amid uproar over Delhi violence, LS adjourned till March 11

New Delhi: Amid uproar over the suspension of seven Congress MPs and the Opposition demand to discuss the last week’s Delhi violence, the Lok Sabha was on Friday adjourned till March 11.

On Thursday, seven Congress MPs were suspended, for their unruly behaviour from Lok Sabha till the remainder of the current second sitting of the Budget session which ends on April 3.

Earlier in the day, the Lok Sabha was adjourned soon after it met as Congress and the Opposition members took up Delhi violence again and demanded immediate discussion on it. The Congress members also wore black bands on their arms to protest against the suspension of seven party MPs from the Budget Session.

The government has informed the House that it will discuss the Delhi violence on March 11, a day after Holi.

Soon after the House resumed at noon, it had a discussion over the conduct of the MPs. Speaking in the House, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi slammed the Congress members for their unruly behaviour and said, “The government doesn’t want to keep any MPs outside Parliament. But, what happened yesterday never happened in the 70 years of independent India.”

Replying to Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Joshi said, “Such behaviour should not be displayed in the House. Earlier, inappropriate words were said against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in the House, but we did not do anything.”

The Congress MPs, meanwhile, kept on shouting “we want justice” in the Lok Sabha.

Speaking before Joshi in the Lok Sabha, Chowdhury said, “Seven of our MPs were suspended for the entire Budget session yesterday. We don’t know on what basis this was done. We only want a discussion on the issue of Delhi violence.”

The Lok Sabha also passed two Bills — the Minerals Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and the Bankruptcy Code (second amendment) Bill, 2019 amid uproar by Opposition members over the last week’s Delhi violence which has left 52 people dead.

A committee has also been formed to inquire into the incidents that happened in the House between March 2 and March 5. Informing the Lower House, Kirit Premjibhai Solanki, who was in the chair, said: “The Speaker has formed a committee that will inquire about the incidents which happened in the House between March 2 to March 5 and submit its report to Parliament.”

Solanki said the Speaker will head this committee and it will have one member each from all political parties.

After informing the House about the committee, Solanki adjourned the House till 12.45 p.m.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar told IANS: “It is yet to be formed today afternoon. All parties will give names of their members. The panel will draw one member from each party. Speaker Om Birla will be the Chairman of the Committee.”

Javadekar said the committee would discuss indiscipline since Monday as well as steps to revoke the suspension of seven Congress MPs from Lok Sabha on Thursday.

However, when the House resumed at 12.45 pm, it was adjourned till March 11 as Opposition members kept on raising slogans in the House.

The current session of Parliament, which resumed on March 2, has witnessed frequent adjournments due to protests over the violence that erupted on February 23 in several localities across north-east Delhi. The Congress has been demanding resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah over the violence.

IANS