Rajya Sabha on Tuesday conducted Question Hour proceedings amid protests by opposition parties over various issues including price rise, and a brief adjournment.
Soon after the house met at 12 noon after the first adjournment in the morning session, Deputy Chairman Harivansh urged the protesting members from opposition parties such as Congress, TMC, DMK and AAP to return to their seats and allow the Question Hour to proceed.
As the members continued with their protest, he adjourned the house briefly for about 15 minutes till 12.20 PM.
Members of the AAP and the TMC had entered the Well and created an uproar, holding placards and raising slogans against the government.
Opposition MPs have been demanding an urgent discussion on issues like price rise and GST hike for the past many days, leading to disruptions in the House.
The opposition is demanding that the discussions be held under rule 267 (Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Rajya Sabha). Under this rule, the issue being raised is taken up by suspending the listed business of the day.
When the House met again at 12.20 pm, Harivansh asked about dozen opposition MPs, who were in the well, to return to their seats, but they continued protesting and raising slogans.
However, the deputy chairman decided to move ahead with the Question Hour.
The protesting MPs were raising slogans in various languages, including English, Hindi, Tamil and other regional languages.
"Modi ji jawab do"; "GST wapas lo", "Gujarat CM resign karo" were some of the slogans being raised by the Opposition members.
Derek O'Brien (TMC) wanted to ask a supplementary question, but Harivansh told him to first ask his party members to return to their seats.
In all, the upper House took up seven listed questions during the Question Hour.
Earlier, the several opposition party MPs, from both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, staged a protest near the Mahatama Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex. Among other things, they were demanding revocation of suspension of Lok Sabha members as well as taking back GST on essential items.
The opposition parties also raised the issue of Gujarat hooch tragedy which reportedly took lives of 27 people. They sought compensation for the families of the deceased persons and resignation of the Gujarat chief minister.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi too participated in the dharna.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
You’ve hit your limit of {{free_limit}} free articles this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
Already subscribed? Log in
Subscribe to read the full story →
Quarterly Starter
₹900
3 Months
₹300/Month
Smart Essential
₹2,700
1 Year
₹225/Month
Super Saver
₹3,900
2 Years
₹162/Month
Renews automatically, cancel anytime
Here’s what’s included in our digital subscription plans
Access to Exclusive Premium Stories Online
Over 30 behind the paywall stories daily, handpicked by our editors for subscribers


Complimentary Access to The New York Times
News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter & The Athletic
Business Standard Epaper
Digital replica of our daily newspaper — with options to read, save, and share


Curated Newsletters
Insights on markets, finance, politics, tech, and more delivered to your inbox
Market Analysis & Investment Insights
In-depth market analysis & insights with access to The Smart Investor


Archives
Repository of articles and publications dating back to 1997
Ad-free Reading
Uninterrupted reading experience with no advertisements


Seamless Access Across All Devices
Access Business Standard across devices — mobile, tablet, or PC, via web or app