United Oppn demands Teni resignation in LS; House adjourned for the day

Opposition parties, including Congress and Trinamool Congress, occupied the Well of the House shouting slogans against Teni. Congress member Rahul Gandhi, who had a starred question on MSMEs listed against his name in Question Hour, used the opportunity to demand the minister’s dismissal.

Gandhi said the SIT report filed at the local court has found more evidence to prove the involvement of Teni’s son Ashish Mishra in the mowing down of farmers in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3.

Question Hour ran for ten minutes and proceedings were adjourned till 2pm. As the House reconvened in the afternoon, Opposition members once again went to the Well demanding Teni’s resignation.

Amid the noise, Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav introduced the Biodiversity Amendment Bill. The House was adjourned till Friday after that.

Earlier in the day, Speaker Om Birla said Gandhi should ask his listed question as members should see no wrong practices are set by disturbing Question Hour. But Gandhi repeated his demands even as his party members, along with other Opposition MPs surrounded the Well shouting slogans and raising placards. Some of the references made by Gandhi were later expunged from the records.

TMC, which on Wednesday had refrained from joining other Opposition parties in seeking the dismissal of Teni, reversed course on Thursday. In fact, it was TMC, led by senior MPs Kalyan Banerjee and Sougata Ray, which first rushed to the Well of the House. Congress, DMK and Left MPs soon joined them.

Speaker Birla reiterated that MPs should use Question Hour to get the government’s responses on issues in their constituencies instead of disrupting it.

The MPs, however, intensified their sloganeering, following which the Speaker adjourned proceedings till 2 pm

Gandhi on Wednesday had given a notice for an adjournment motion to discuss the Lakhimpur Kheri episode. The government, however, had insisted that there was no question of discussing the issue in Parliament as it is “sub judice”.

When it met in the morning, Lok Sabha mourned the death of IAF Group Captain Varun Singh, who succumbed to injuries sustained in the December 8 helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu. Speaker Birla read out the obituary reference and condoled Singh’s death. Group Captain Singh died at a military hospital in Bengaluru on Wednesday, a week after he was critically injured in the helicopter crash that killed Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others.

The House also paid tribute to Bangladeshi freedom fighters and Indian armed forces on the 50th anniversary of Vijay Diwas. Vijay Diwas marks India’s victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war that led to the liberation of Bangladesh.

“Their extraordinary sacrifices will continue to inspire future generations,” the Speaker said. As the speaker concluded his remarks, Congress MP from Kerala, T N Pratapan, was heard shouting: “Indira Gandhi amar rahe (Long live Indira Gandhi).”