Women MPs carried banners, gheraoed PM's seat: What happened minutes before Modi's speech in Lok Sabha?

A group of women opposition MPs moved towards the Prime Minister’s seat carrying banners ahead of his proposed address.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expected to address the Lok Sabha on Wednesday and reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address, but chaos and sloganeering inside Parliament forced the Speaker to adjourn the House as a slugfest continued between the Opposition and the BJP.

Opposition MPs protest in the Lok Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament, in New Delhi. (Sansad TV/PTI)

Proceedings in the lower house of Parliament began at 11 am on Wednesday but were halted within ten minutes due to repeated disruptions and disorder. The House resumed at 12 pm but was adjourned once again shortly after. Following another adjournment amid chaos, proceedings were scheduled to resume at 5 pm, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expected to speak. However, the Speaker later adjourned the Lok Sabha for the day, pushing proceedings to Thursday. Follow live updates related to Parliament session here.

What led to the adjournment and delay of Modi’s speech?

When the House reconvened at 5 pm following three adjournments, BJP member Sandhya Rai, who was presiding, invited BJP leader PP Chaudhary to respond to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not in the House at the time. As Chaudhary began his reply, opposition members walked into the Well of the House.

A group of women opposition MPs moved towards the Prime Minister’s seat carrying banners ahead of his proposed address. They then reached the Treasury benches while raising objections over talks on the trade deal with the US and former Army chief MM Naravane’s unpublished book.

As opposition members approached the Prime Minister’s seat, the presiding officer adjourned the House for the day.

The Prime Minister is now likely to speak on Thursday in the Rajya Sabha, where the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address was held without any interruptions.

There was no immediate clarity on when the Prime Minister would address the Lok Sabha, as protests by the opposition are set to continue. The Lok Sabha agenda for Thursday includes a discussion on the Union Budget.

Opposition vs Centre in Lok Sabha

The clash between the government and the opposition in the Lok Sabha intensified on Tuesday after eight Congress MPs were suspended for the rest of the Budget Session for unruly conduct.

The Lok Sabha has witnessed stormy protests from opposition members since Monday. The unrest began after Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi insisted on a reference to Naravane’s unpublished book. This was opposed by senior ministers, including Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah.

Gandhi later accused the Prime Minister of being “scared”. In a post on X, he wrote, “As I said, PM Modi won’t come to Parliament because he is scared and doesn’t want to face the truth.”

Speaking outside Parliament, Gandhi said he was willing to personally hand over General Naravane’s book to the Prime Minister. “I don’t think the PM will have the guts to come to the Lok Sabha today because if he comes, I’m going to give him this book. He will know what his truth is, and the country will also know,” he told news agency ANI.

Meanwhile, Union minister Giriraj Singh said the opposition was acting irresponsibly. “This is unfortunate. This is the first time such a ruckus has been created during the President’s address. They are behaving like children. Do they think this is the Nehru family’s kingdom or the Congress party’s office?” he said.

With inputs from agencies