New Delhi Members of Parliament were locked in heated exchanges on several occasions during Tuesday’s sitting in both Houses as Opposition protests over the Adani Group controversy and a heated language politics debate overshadowed legislative proceedings, though the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha managed to pass key bills amid the tumult.
Opposition leaders, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, staged a protest at Parliament’s Makar Dwar entrance, demanding accountability from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over allegations against the Adani Group, while inside the chambers, a banking bill debate devolved into a bitter exchange over language politics.
Lok Sabha passed the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which introduces significant changes to banking regulations and Rajya Sabha cleared the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill, 2024 — the first pieces legislative business to have been carried out since the Winter Session was convened on November 25.
While both sides struck an agreement on Monday to end the logjam, the Opposition began the day with a protest to press the government over the controversy relating to Adani Group. The protests outside Parliament halls saw members from multiple INDIA bloc parties, including the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), RJD, Shiv Sena (UBT), DMK, and Left parties, gathering with banners and raising slogans questioning Modi’s silence on the Adani issue.
“Who benefits from Adani’s billions, Modi ji? The Prime Minister’s silence speaks volumes,” Gandhi later wrote on Facebook, underlining the opposition’s demands for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe following the US prosecutors’ indictment of Adani Group chairperson Gautam Adani on bribery and fraud charges.
{{/usCountry}}“Who benefits from Adani’s billions, Modi ji? The Prime Minister’s silence speaks volumes,” Gandhi later wrote on Facebook, underlining the opposition’s demands for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe following the US prosecutors’ indictment of Adani Group chairperson Gautam Adani on bribery and fraud charges.
{{/usCountry}}However, the Opposition’s unity showed cracks as two key INDIA bloc parties, the Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party, abstained from the protests, choosing instead to engage in parliamentary proceedings.
The Lok Sabha Speaker granted the Samajwadi Party permission to raise the Sambhal issue during Zero Hour on Wednesday, while the Trinamool was scheduled to discuss the Bangladesh issue on Wednesday.
Inside the chambers, the discussion of the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, became another flashpoint between Opposition and BJP when finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s response triggered a heated debate about Hindi language imposition in Tamil Nadu.
The trigger was Sitharaman’s attempted to respond in Hindi to a Samajwadi Party MP’s criticism, leading to comments about her grammar.
“I am coming from such a state where people are forbidden from studying Hindi,” Sitharaman said, referring to Tamil Nadu. “I am making fun of my Hindi... rejoice yourself by correcting my Hindi. You can also complain to them,” she added, pointing to DMK MPs.
The exchange grew more heated as DMK lawmakers attempted to defend their position, stating they weren’t against any language but opposed its imposition. Sitharaman, however, pressed on with her personal experience: “In our times, the environment was not conducive. I was mocked for trying to learn Hindi. As an individual, I want to learn whatever I want to learn. Hindi Prachar Sabha was burnt down. You are imposing on me denying my fundamental right to learn whatever.”
DMK leaders later pushed back. “It has never been the case that anybody was stopped from learning any language in Tamil Nadu, we only opposed imposing Hindi... I think when the FM was a student in Tamil Nadu, there were many people who were learning in schools also. So, it has never been the case that nobody can learn Hindi,” Thoothukudi MP K Kanimozhi told reporters later.
The language debate required intervention from Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who attempted to lighten the mood by suggesting that “more is merrier” regarding languages.
The Adani issue was raised during various legislative discussions too. Earlier in the day, in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi criticised corporate disclosure violations, saying, “Today a company is trying to settle a case with SEBI, big company big billionaire, you know how much settlement fees they are offering - ₹28 lakh. Are they insulting the SEBI? Are they insulting the law?”
The issue was then raised in Rajya Sabha, where Congress MP Nasser Hussain’s comments about airport privatisation and “chosen few industrialists” drew sharp criticism from BJP President JP Nadda. “With a very heavy heart, I want to say that the discussion was going on the Vayuyaan bill, but a senior Member of Parliament was not speaking on the subject,” Nadda said, requesting the Chair to examine “objectionable” comments for omission.
The Adani Group has dismissed all allegations as “baseless,” even as the Congress maintains that the US court indictment validates their demand for a JPC investigation into what they term as various “scams” involving the conglomerate.