Prime Minister Narendra Modi The address was expected Lok Sabha Wednesday and responded to the President’s address on the motion of thanks, but chaos and sloganeering inside Parliament forced the Speaker to adjourn the House as the slugfest between the opposition and the BJP continued.
Opposition MPs protest in the Lok Sabha during the budget session of Parliament in New Delhi. (Parliament TV/PTI)Proceedings of the lower house of Parliament began at 11 am on Wednesday but were adjourned within ten minutes due to repeated ruckus and chaos. The House resumed at 12 noon but was adjourned again shortly after. After another adjournment amid chaos, proceedings were scheduled to resume at 5 pm pending Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech. However, the Speaker later adjourned the Lok Sabha for the day, pushing the proceedings to Thursday.
Also Read | Protests, handshake rejections, messages for Modi: Day three of the Rahul Gandhi-Smriti Sangsad sagaWhat is the reason for postponement and delay of Modi’s speech?When the House resumed at 5 pm after three adjournments, presiding BJP member Sandhya Rai invited BJP leader PP Chaudhary to respond to the motion of thanks to the President’s address.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not in Parliament at that time. As Chaudhary began his reply, the opposition members moved to the well of the House.
A group of women MPs from the opposition marched towards the Prime Minister’s seat with banners in front of her proposed speech. They reached the Treasury Bench when they raised objections over the trade deal with the US and discussions on former army chief MM Naravane’s unpublished book.
The Presiding Officer adjourned the session for the day as members of the opposition approached the Prime Minister’s seat.
The Prime Minister is now likely to address the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, where the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address was held without a hitch.
There was no immediate clarity on when the prime minister would address the Lok Sabha, as opposition protests would continue. The agenda of the Lok Sabha on Thursday includes discussion on the Union Budget.
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Also Read | Letter to Speaker, 8 MPs suspended: Chaos continues in Lok Sabha over Rahul Gandhi vs BJP Naravaan memorialOpposition vs Center in Lok SabhaClashes between the government and opposition intensified in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday when eight Congress MPs were suspended for the remainder of the budget session.
The Lok Sabha has witnessed stormy protests by opposition members since Monday. The unrest erupted after Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi insisted on references to Naravaan’s unpublished book. Senior ministers including Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah opposed it.
Gandhi later accused the Prime Minister of “fear”. In a post on X, he wrote, “Like I said, PM Modi won’t come to Parliament because he’s 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 Prime Minister will have the courage to come to the Lok Sabha today because if he does, I will 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 that the opposition is behaving irresponsibly. “It is unfortunate. This is the first time there has been such a ruckus during the President’s address. They are behaving like children. Do they think it is the Nehru family’s kingdom or the office of the Congress party?” He said
with input from organizations
