Repeated disruptions marked the House proceedings in Parliament in the last two days. The Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die on Wednesday, but not before the Opposition staged a walkout as their Mallikarjun Kharge wanted to intervene during the prime minister’s reply to a discussion on the motion thanking the President for her address to the joint sitting of Parliament.
Condemning such “disruptive behaviour”, government sources said these instances are “scary for any person who believes in democratic principles and wants a vibrant parliamentary democracy”.
“It is very obvious that this provocation to disturb and destabilise healthy debate is a part of a larger and sinister plan,” they said, adding that the question now arises if this will be shown in passing as a routine occurrence or be taken to the public with an important message on how democracy is being undermined.
Here are five instances of disruptions in Parliament over the past two days:
- Amid heavy sloganeering by the opposition during Modi’s speech, the INDIA bloc parties led by the Congress staged a walkout after the Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge was not allowed to intervene during the PM’s speech. Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar did not heed the Congress president’s requests, leading opposition MPs to raise slogans and asking for him to be allowed to speak. Modi continued his speech amid the slogans of “LoP, LoP” and this went on for some time with Kharge repeatedly pleading to be allowed to speak.
- When the permission did come through, however, the Opposition staged a walkout from the House. Dhankhar condemned their act of walkout, saying this was an insult to the Constitution. “…the LoP was given adequate time to speak without any interruptions. Today, they did not just leave the House, they have left behind dignity. Today, they did not show me their back, they showed it to the Constitution of India. They did not insult me or you, they insulted the oath of the Constitution that they took. There can be no bigger insult to the Constitution of India than this…I condemn their conduct…”
- The PM also said the opposition spreads lies and does not have the strength to hear the truth. “…Those who do not have the courage to face truth, do not have courage to listen to the answers to questions that were raised in these discussions. They are insulting the Upper House, the glorious tradition of the Upper House,” he said. Later, Kharge said the Opposition walked out because Modi had “said some false things in his address”. He said he wanted to put his point across, but was not allowed.
- On Tuesday (July 2), while Modi was speaking in the Lok Sabha, the Opposition shouted slogans prompting a rebuke directed at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by Speaker Om Birla. Senior BJP leader Amit Malviya posted a video of the Leader of Opposition from the day, taking a swipe at him by saying the opposition leader’s conduct is neither surprising nor new. Before being adjourned sine die, the Lok Sabha also passed a resolution condemning the opposition’s disruptions during the prime minister’s address with Union defence minister Rajnath Singh saying these actions “shredded” parliamentary norms. He moved the resolution following Modi’s speech and said: “The manner in which the Opposition shredded parliamentary norms when the PM was speaking on the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, I propose that the House condemns this action.”
- On July 1, too, Gandhi’s fiery speech in the Lok Sabha during the debate on the Motion of Thanks for the President’s address drew massive protests from the treasury benches, with Modi slamming him for calling the entire Hindu community violent. The Congress leader’s remarks, however, were expunged from record. On this occasion, too, in a rare occurrence, the PM and Union home minister Amit Shah both interrupted Gandhi mid-speech while Rajnath Singh intervened when the Congress MP was making allegations on compensation and pension given to Agniveers under the Agnipath scheme for the armed forces.
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