Om Birla urges opposition to take part in “discussions” instead of protests

|HT|

On third day of Parliament monsoon session, both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha failed to work through the morning hours and were adjourned till 2pm as opposition MPs vociferously protested inflation and price rise. In the Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla urged them to take part in “discussions” instead. “I want to tell those members who are indulging in sloganeering they should take part in discussions. The public wants the Parliament to work.”

Minutes after both Houses were adjourned, Congress shared a short video on Twitter, in which MPs were seen shouting, “GST wapas lo, wapas lo (Take back GST)”.

“The House is resonating with slogans of 'take back GST'. If the deaf government does not listen to this voice, this struggle will continue from the House to the road,” the party said.

The video showed a glimpse of Congress veteran and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, who was also chanting the slogan.

Earlier today Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Smriti Irani lashed out at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over the disruptions, saying he had always shown “disrespect to Parliamentary proceedings”.

“A gentleman whose entire political history has been dotted with showing disrespect to Parliamentary procedure is adamant to bring down the productivity of Lok Sabha,” she added.

Irani said Gandhi had less than 40 per cent attendance in parliament and described him as “politically unproductive”. “Today…(he) is dedicating himself to ensure there's no debate in Parliament,” she said. On Tuesday - the second day of the Parliament's monsoon session - both Houses were first adjourned till 2pm and then for the day, as opposition MPs sloganeered over inflation, price rise, GST hike and LPG price increase.

Gandhi was photographed at a protest site with Kharge, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, among others, to protest against the issues. The opposition MPs stood in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue with placards.

Furthermore, opposition MPs had also brought placards inside the Lok Sabha that prompted Birla to adjourn it the first time as, according to a recently released rulebook, bringing placards, pamphlets or leaflets inside the Parliament is prohibited.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)