TDP leaders protest in front of Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament on Wednesday (Express Photo by Renuka Puri)
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House till noon on Wednesday, after members disrupted proceedings. The three no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi-led NDA government, which were given by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and YSR Congress, are expected to be taken up during the session today. The Rajya Sabha, meanwhile, was adjourned for the day within minutes over protests in the House. No business was transacted in the Upper House.
The notices for the no-confidence motion were given by TDP MPs Thota Narasimham and Jayadev Galla and YSR Congress’s Y V Subba Reddy on March 16 but are yet to be taken up with Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourning the House over protests saying it was not in order. Both parties have been demanding a special package for Andhra Pradesh and TDP quit the NDA over the issue last week
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned on Tuesday after Swaraj announced that 39 Indians abducted by ISIS in Iraq are dead. In the Lok Sabha, Swaraj was unable to make an elaborate statement and Mahajan adjourned the House terming the scenes as “unfortunate.”
Both the Houses have not transacted any substantial business since March 5 when the second half of the Budget session of Parliament resumed except for the passage of the Finance Bill in Lok Sabha without a discussion.
Lok Sabha adjourned till noon after uproar in the House
The Opposition parties also met in the chamber of Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing impasse in Parliament. The opposition leaders said that they wanted to discuss the issues of bank scams, grant of special status to Andhra Pradesh and the Cauvery water sharing, but it seemed that the government was not ready for a debate on these issues.
"The entire opposition holds that the government is responsible for not taking any interest in the functioning of Parliament. So, they are running away from the issues. The government is running away from the debate.They, as a matter of fact, do not want to discuss the issues; they are very scared of the bank scam. They are very much scared. They know that they have no face to face the public of India and are scared to discuss this issue on the floor of House. They are not interested in running or in the functioning of the House," Azad told reporters on Tuesday.
Congress MP Pratap Singh Banwa has given notice to Rajya Sabha for short duration discussion on the death of 39 Indians in Iraq's Mosul.
AIADMK members are also staging a protest in Parliament over Cauvery issue (Source: Express photo/Renuka Puri)
The TMC also accused the government of putting up lame excuses for not holding discussions in the House. "The Speaker is duty-bound to take up the no-confidence motion, whether the House is in order or not. There is no rule saying that motion cannot be taken up if the House is not in order," TMC leader Derek O'Brien told reporters.The TMC also attacked the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar for not been able to bring the House to order. "We have not received a single phone call from him or the ruling party. There is no serious attempt to reach out to the opposition. It is his responsibility to run the House," O' Brien said.
(Express photo by Renuka Puri)
(Express photo by Praveen Jain)
The Left which is supporting the no-confidence motion held the BJP responsible for the uproar in the House. "The rules can not be selectively implied. If the House is not in order, whose responsibility is it? Din is been orchestrated by the government. Whenever the government wants, they go silent," CPI (M) leader Mohammad Salim said, reported PTI.
YSR Congress Party MP YV Subba Reddy has given a notice to include no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha's list of business today.
If the TDP's no-confidence motion is tabled in the Lok Sabha today, here are the parties likely to support it: Congress, CPI(M), TMC, NCP, and AIMIM. The AIADMK will decide once the motion is moved. BJP ally Shiv Sena, however, will abstain if it is put to vote.
The BJP, which has a comfortable majority in the House, is likely to remain unaffected by the motion. However, this will mark the first no-trust motion against the government.
Welcome to the live blog. Follow this space to track all the developments in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha