Lok Sabha adjourned for an hour as MPs sit in dharna in Rajya Sabha blocking seats

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 20

In a first in the history of the Indian Parliament, a ruckus in Rajya Sabha on Sunday led to the adjournment in the Lok Sabha.

Soon as the Lok Sabha assembled at 3 pm today, Opposition Congress demanded its adjournment saying the MPs allocated seats in the Rajya Sabha on account of the COVID protocols will not be able to sit there due to a ‘dharna’ by some Rajya Sabha members.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla ultimately adjourned the House for an hour until 4 pm due to unavailability of seating for all MPs amid the Rajya Sabha ruckus even after the Upper House was adjourned around 1.30 pm after the passage of controversial farm bills.

On account of COVID protocols, both houses assemble at different times these days to enable enough seats for MPs who are mandated to follow the two-yard social distancing measure.

While the Rajya Sabha sits from 9 am to 1 pm daily, the LS sits from 3 pm to 7 pm.

But with TMC members sitting in dharna in Rajya Sabha today to oppose the passage of farm bills there, Speaker Birla adjourned the Lok Sabha for an hour on the Opposition Congress’ request for the situation in Rajya Sabha to normalise.

“Since the MPs of various parties have been allotted seats in Rajya Sabha, which is currently disrupted, we urge the chair to adjourn the Lok Sabha until Rajya Sabha situation normalises,” Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, asking for a two-hour adjournment.

The Speaker, who earlier said he would accommodate all MPs in the visitors’ galleries and would not consider Rajya Sabha a part of the Lok Sabha proceedings for the day, later conceded to Congress request for an adjournment.

The Speaker adjourned the House after first trying to reason that the House has to take up a discussion on COVID-19 today and it was too important a matter to be postponed.

Although Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi requested the Speaker to hold on to his previous ruling of running the house and accommodating MPs in the visitors’ galleries, the Speaker looking at Adhir Ranjan said, “I am agreeing to you. The house is adjourned till 4 pm.”

This is the first time in Parliamentary history that one house has had to be adjourned not for ruckus therein but for ruckus in the other house.