Parliament adjourned for the day amid Opposition protests

They were demanding the resignation of the Union Home Minister, as well as his presence in the House.

The Opposition was also demanding action against BJP MP Pratap Simha, who had authorised the visitor passes for the two men who jumped inside the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors’ gallery with smoke canisters.

The usual laying of papers, as well as standing committee reports, could not be taken up on Thursday and Friday. The three Bills that seek to replace the criminal laws were listed on the agenda for Thursday and Friday. They could not be taken up for consideration.

Also Read: Parliament adjourned till 2 pm amid Opposition protest

Rajya Sabha adjourned too

The Rajya Sabha proceedings too on Friday were adjourned for the day as the Opposition parties continued with their protest demanding discussion on the security breach in the Lower House.

As soon as the House met at 2 pm after morning adjournments, Opposition members were up in arms again, demanding a discussion on the Wednesday security breach.

Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar adjourned the proceedings for the day as his repeated request for order in the house did not yield results. The House will now reconvene on Monday, 18 December.

Earlier in the morning session, soon after the listed papers were laid on the table of the Upper House, the Chairman informed the members that he had received 23 notices under Rule 267 of the Rajya Sabha procedures for suspension of the scheduled business of the day to discuss the “serious situation arising out of breach of security” in Parliament on 13 December.

The Chairman did not approve the notices and proceeded with the Zero Hour. At this point, the entire Opposition members erupted in protest.

Opinion: Voices of 1.85 crore voters stifled by MPs being suspended

Raghav Chadha makes hand gesture

Aam Aadmi Party member Raghav Chadha tried to raise a point of order by making a hand gesture.

Dhankar objected to the gesture and said, “Mr Chadha, you don’t have to do like this (hand gesture) to raise a point of order…use your tongue…don’t do it,” the Chairman said to him.

Chadha was suspended from the Upper House on 11 August, during the monsoon session of the Parliament. The House ended his suspension on 4 December through a motion.

The AAP member was held guilty by the Privileges Committee of presenting “misleading” facts to the media and was allowed to attend the House proceedings after his suspension was withdrawn.

Earlier, amid the din caused by the Opposition, the Chairman had adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.

Before adjourning the proceedings, Dhankhar asked the Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, the Leader of the House Piyush Goyal, and other floor leaders to meet him in his chamber.

The House had witnessed repeated adjournments also on Thursday.

Also Read: MPs suspended for protesting Parliament security breach

The incident

In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack on Wednesday, two men— Sagar Sharma and Manoranjan D — jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during the Zero Hour, released coloured smoke, and shouted slogans, before being overpowered by the MPs.

Two others, including a woman, were detained outside the Parliament complex for staging a protest.

In total, 6 individuals have been arrested so far and interrogations are ongoing.

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