Indian Parliament Sees Multiple Adjournments Over Leader of Opposition's Speaking Rights

Amid a logjam between the government and the Opposition over Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s insistence on being allowed to speak before the commencement of discussion on the Union Budget, the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on Monday, minutes after being reconvened at 2pm. In all, the Lok Sabha saw three adjournments. As the House met on Monday afternoon after being reconvened following the second adjournment, Sandhya Ray, who was in the Chair, asked Congress member Shashi Tharoor to start the discussion on the Union Budget . Tharoor told the Chair that Gandhi, being the LoP, should be allowed to raise certain points before the Thiruvananthapuram MP starts speaking. Ray said she had no issues if Gandhi wanted to speak on the Budget and asked him to begin. Gandhi claimed that at a meeting between Speaker Om Birla and some Opposition MPs earlier in the day, an agreement was reached that he would be allowed to raise certain points before the Budget discussion, adding the Chair was now backtracking “on its word”. Ray said she was not aware of any such agreement and that she could not allow anyone to raise any issue without a notice being submitted. At this point, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said there was no such agreement and if the LoP wanted to say something about the Speaker, Birla should also be present in the House to respond. Rijiju further said that other members of the House would also speak on the subject and there would be a broader discussion. With neither side budging from its position, Ray adjourned the House for the day. Earlier in the day, the House saw two adjournments as Opposition members started raising issues, which they demanded should be immediately addressed. Birla, who was in the Chair, said these issues could be raised during the discussion on the Union Budget. He said members, including the LoP, were free to speak during the debate. With the opposition members not relenting, Birla slammed them for “planned” disruptions and asked them to let the House run according to rules. As the protests over various issues continued, the Speaker adjourned the House proceedings briefly. At 12 noon, when the House reassembled, Opposition parties insisted that Gandhi be allowed to speak before the House took up the discussion on the Budget. As Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was in the Chair, called Tharoor to initiate the debate on the Budget, Opposition members dug in their heels and demanded that Gandhi be allowed to speak first. The Rajya Sabha , too, saw several disruptions on Monday. Opposition members walked out of Rajya Sabha after LoP Mallikarjun Kharge was not allowed to raise the issue of his Lower House counterpart Rahul Gandhi not being allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha. At the beginning of the question hour, before opening the floor to Kharge, Rajya Sabha chairperson C P Radhakrishnan asked him not to raise matters related to the other House. Kharge said: “I am only raising concern about the Constitution…” The chairperson again told him that the RS could not discuss matters of the other House. “I have already quoted Jawaharlal Nehru ji’s quotation, what he said about that, so I am not allowing anything,” he said. It was not clear what quotation he was attributing to. At the beginning of the zero hour at 11am, DMK member Tiruchi Siva said he has given a notice of breach of privilege against Union Minister Piyush Goyal, stating that he has given an interview about government policy outside the House when the Parliament was in session. The Chair said that the matter has already been discussed and he has made a statement in the house, adding it will be looked into later.