Parliament Monsoon Session: Opposition protests over SIR, PM reply continue, both Houses adjourned

Proceedings in the Lok Sabha too were adjourned for the day soon after Goyal made a statement on the US tariff announcement amid Opposition’s protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar.

The Upper House, earlier in the day, witnessed three adjournments amid uproar by Opposition MPs over no reply by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the debate on Operation Sindoor in the House; they also raised the SIR issue.

The first adjournment happened soon after the proceedings began at 11 am; the second one when the House met at 12 noon; and the third when the House met again at 2 pm. The Chair adjourned the proceedings till 4.30 pm as Opposition members continued their noisy protests.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said Opposition MPs had raised slogans demanding the Prime Minister come to the House, triggering uproar from Trinamool Congress MPs.

“The behaviour of TMC MPs is not right… The way Derek O’Brien is behaving is not right,” Rijiju said.

He said PM Modi had already replied to the debate in the Lok Sabha for one hour and 42 minutes on Tuesday. “He (PM) presented all the facts to the nation through the House. The Home Minister (Amit Shah) is capable of replying to the debate,” Rijiju said.

He said the government has a collective responsibility, and the Opposition does not get to decide who will speak. As soon as Rijiju finished his statement, the Chair adjourned the House till 4.30 pm.

When the House met again at 4.30 pm, Goyal made his statement amid sloganeering by Opposition members. “The government attaches the utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of our farmers, workers, entrepreneurs, exporters, MSMEs and all sections of industry. We will take all necessary steps to secure and advance our national interest,” he said.

The Opposition members continued raising slogans against the SIR and demanding that the Prime Minister come to the House, following which the House was adjourned for the day.

In the Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla tried to take up Zero Hour but the Opposition members continued to raise slogans. Birla then adjourned the House till 2 pm. When the Lok Sabha reassembled at 2 pm, it could function for only a few minutes. Amid sloganeering by the Opposition members, papers were laid in the House.

Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad, who was in the Chair, urged the members to go back to their seats. When the protests continued, he adjourned the proceedings till 4 pm. Soon after the House met at 4 pm, Birla called for Goyal to make his statement. As soon as the statement got over, the Opposition MPs rushed to the Well and raised slogans. The Speaker then adjourned the House for the day.

The House, meanwhile, congratulated the scientists for the successful launch of the GSLV rocket that placed an Earth observation satellite, jointly developed by ISRO and NASA.