Parliament Live: Houses adjourned for the day; Competition (Amendment) Bill 2022 passed

Lok Sabha on Wednesday (March 29) passed the Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022, amid ruckus in the House with opposition MPs continuing their protest over the Adani issue.

Rajya Sabha was first adjourned till 2 pm Wednesday, and shortly after resuming, till 11 am Monday (April 3).

As Lok Sabha MPs re-assembled at 12 pm after the adjournment in the morning, Opposition members rushed to the Well of the House and raised slogans demanding a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the Adani issue.

Some papers and reports were laid on the table of the House amid the din.

Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav then introduced the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023. Amid the loud sloganeering by Opposition members, the Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was taken up for consideration and passed without a debate.

As the Opposition members, several of whom were dressed in black as a mark of protest against the government, continued their sloganeering while holding placards with democracy in danger written on them, Rama Devi, who was in the Chair, adjourned the proceedings for the day.

Both Houses will meet on Monday as members agreed to not hold a sitting on Friday and Thursday being a holiday.

Earlier in the day, speaking to the Press, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw launched a blistering attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying he had been disqualified “because of his arrogance”.

“He thinks it is his birth right to rule this country and that is causing all this cognitive dissonance in his mind,” Vaishnaw has said.

The minister told reporters that the former Congress president thinks all institutions are beneath him and that is why he is upset with the court order convicting him for “insulting” OBCs and his subsequent disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP.

“He thinks it is his birth right to rule because he was a born in a family. He does politics of entitlement and considers himself above the Constitution, court, and Parliament,” Vaishnaw said.

“People (Opposition) who are levelling corruption allegations against us should try to recall how, during the UPA government, a conspiracy was on to weaken the institutions of the country,” Vaishnaw said.

He also cited the incident of Rahul Gandhi tearing up an ordinance passed by the Union Cabinet when the Congress-led UPA was in power and the presence of a “parallel PMO” in Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, on the other hand, alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself was corrupt. “He is not saying anything to those who looted the country; no investigation is being done against them; JPC is not being constituted. So, has he joined hands with the corrupt people?” he demanded.

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) leader Sanjay Raut confirmed that they were very much with the Congress. “We will definitely attend the Opposition meeting today and will participate in the protest as well. We give utmost priority to the unity of Opposition. The Opposition is united in Maharashtra and also in the country,” he said.

Parliament did not conduct any business on Tuesday (March 28), with both Houses adjourned twice just minutes after starting proceedings — at 11 am, and later at 2 pm.

The commotion continued, with the Opposition protesting on two issues — Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha membership, and the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani stock issue. Opposition members wearing black held posters saying “Save Democracy” at the well of the House, shouted slogans, and threw papers at the Speaker’s chair.

(With agency inputs)