Opposition forces 2nd adjournment in RS on fuel hike

New Delhi: The opposition forced second adjournment in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, the first day of the second half of the Budget Session as it pressed for discussion on the fuel price hike.

The House was adjourned till 11 a.m. and when it met again, the Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge repeated the earlier demand. The Deputy Chairman Harivansh said the ruling of the Chairman cannot be reconsidered. Pandemonium soon followed and amid the uproar the House was again adjourned till 1 p.m.

Earlier, the Chairman of the House M.Venkaiah Naidu rejected Leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge’s notice of suspension of business under rule 267.

Kharge said, “The petrol price has reached Rs 100 per litre in some parts of the country and the government has earned more than Rs 20 lakh crore in the last six years through taxes and its utmost important to discuss it.”

But the Chair did not allow it and said that it is against the rules. The House was adjourned till 11 a.m. after the Congress MPs resorted to sloganeering.

“I don’t want to take drastic action on the first day,” Venkaiah Naidu said.

In the national capital, petrol was sold for Rs 91.17 per litre on Sunday. Similarly, in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, the fuel was priced at Rs 97.57, Rs 93.11 and Rs 91.35 per litre, respectively.

The petrol and diesel prices have been rising continuously since February 9. In the 14 increases since then, prices have gone up by Rs 4.22 per litre for petrol while diesel rate has risen by Rs 4.34 a litre in Delhi. The increase in the previous weeks has taken petrol to cross historic high levels of Rs 100 a litre in several cities across the country.

IANS

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