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Fuel price hike: Amid ruckus, Rajya Sabha adjourned till Tuesday; oppn stages walkout in Lok Sabha
Petrol prices have jumped by ₹8.40 per litre in the last 14 days. The price of petrol is above ₹100 a litre mark in all major cities from Srinagar to Kochi.
Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned till Tuesday amid protests by opposition parties seeking a discussion on issues related to the fuel price rise on Monday. In the Lok Sabha as well, opposition members, including those from the Congress, Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena, staged a walkout protest against the fuel price hike.
Petrol prices were hiked for the 12th time in the last 14 days as global crude oil prices rose. In all, petrol prices have gone up by ₹8.40 per litre in the past two weeks. The price of petrol is above ₹100 a litre mark in all major cities from Srinagar to Kochi.
In the Upper House, several opposition members had given the notice to discuss the price rise situation, but chairman M Venkaiah Naidu did not accept the demand. As soon as the House reassembled at 2 pm after two adjournments, opposition members were again up on their feet demanding discussion on the issue of price rise of petrol, diesel, and LPG (cooking gas).
Meanwhile, TMC leader Derek O'Brien wanted the House to take up the issue of reservations for women in the House. The Chair tried to bring order in the House and called Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav to reply to a discussion on working of the ministry of labour and employment.
However, the opposition kept on protesting and some of them trooped into the well of the House. Sasmit Patra, who was in the Chair, adjourned the proceeding for the day.
In the Lower House, as soon as the Zero Hour began, DMK members trooped into the Well shouting slogans. Later, members from other opposition parties too stormed the Well raising the issue of fuel price rise.
As Rajendra Agrawal, who was chairing the House proceedings continued to run the Zero Hour, Congress, DMK, TMC, Left parties, Shiv Sena and NCP staged a walkout.
The Congress also protested in Lok Sabha over a BJP member being allowed to ask a lengthy question in which he alleged that the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government has been doing nothing except offering lip service to solve the capital's pollution problem.
During Question Hour, BJP MP from Delhi Parvesh Sahib Singh slammed the AAP government for its alleged lackadaisical attitude towards solving Delhi's pollution problem. He claimed the city government has been offering only lip service rather than taking any concrete action.
As Singh took a few minutes in asking the question, Congress leader in the House Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and his party colleague Gaurav Gogoi protested saying that the Chair has given him more than the usual time to ask a supplementary question.
Meanwhile, six newly elected Rajya Sabha MPs, including Assam BJP's candidate Pabitra Margherita and its ally party UPPL candidate Rwngwra Narzary took oath as members of the House on Monday. The new set of MP's who took oath included two from the BJP, one from the Congress, one from the Communist Party of India (CPI), Kerala, and one from the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
S Phangnon Konyak (BJP, Nagaland); Pabitra Margherita (BJP, Assam); Jebi Mather Hisham (Congress, Kerala); Rwngwra Narzary (UPPL, Assam); Sandosh Kumar (CPI, Kerala); A A Rahim (CPI-M, Kerala) were the members who took oath in the Upper House of Parliament.
(With inputs from agencies)
