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Disruptions continue to hit Monsoon Session of Parliament
As opposition parties in both Houses continued to rally against the price rise and the GST on packed everyday food items such as milk, there were adjournments, prompting the government to blame them for disrupting proceedings.
Disruptions marked the third day of the monsoon session with government and the Opposition trading charges over the loss of business hours in Parliament on Wednesday.
As opposition parties in both Houses continued to rally against the price rise and the GST on packed everyday food items such as milk, there were adjournments, prompting the government to blame them for disrupting proceedings.
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Addressing the media, union minister Piyush Goyal said the government is not running away from a debate on price rise and GST as alleged by the opposition and the issues can be taken up in Parliament once Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recovers from COVID-19.
”Congress has a destructive attitude towards democracy. It was exposed from Jairam Ramesh’s tweet that Congress was successful in not allowing the House to function,” Goyal said. He alleged that the opposition parties were competing against each other on who would disrupt Parliament the most.
The Congress leader had tweeted, “This morning in the Rajya Sabha the Opposition led by the Congress demanded an urgent debate on price rise and senseless GST rates on food items. This was denied. The House was adjourned till 2pm. Modi Sarkar’s obstinacy continues. Business in Parliament is suffering.”
The Opposition wants the government to take up the issue of price rise and inflation in Parliament and is also demanding the rollback of 5% GST that has kicked in on pre-packaged and labelled food items such as cereals, pulses and flour in quantities less than 25 kg.
As soon as the Rajya Sabha convened for business, Leader of the Opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that the business be suspended and a notice under rule 267 be taken up to discuss the issue of price rise.
Also Read| Opposition parties continue protests on price rise, increased GST in Parliament
Not accepting the notice, Chairman, M Venkaiah Naidu said the business advisory committee had agreed to allocate time for discussion on the issue and it can be taken up. As opposition members raised slogans and trooped into the well of the House, with some members carrying packets of milk and milk products, Naidu adjourned the Rajya Sabha till 2 p.m. The House was subsequently adjourned again when it reconvened post lunch.
After Leader of the House Piyush Goyal pointed out that some members were taking pictures of House proceedings, deputy chairman Harivansh told members to refrain from doing so as it is against the rules.
In the Lok Sabha too, business was disrupted amid protest by opposition members demanding an urgent discussion over the price rise and the imposition of the GST.
Speaker Om Birla said he would give the opposition an opportunity to raise the issues during Zero Hour. “This House is for discussions and not for shouting slogans. This kind of conduct is not appropriate for the decorum of the House and there is a process to be followed by the members,” the Speaker said.
The members however continued to raise slogans and display placards.
Earlier in the day, union minister Smriti Irani accused Congress MP Rahul Gandhi of disrespecting Parliamentary proceedings. Addressing the media she said Gandhi was adamant in bringing down the productivity of Parliament. “Rahul Gandhi never posed a question, always disrespected Parliamentary proceedings. He’s the one to have less than 40% attendance in Parliament. Today, the person who’s been politically unproductive is dedicating himself to ensure there’s no debate in Parliament.”
