New Delhi: As impasse continued on the ninth day of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with his senior ministers Rajnath Singh, Pralhad Joshi, Kiren Rijiju went to confer with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday evening after Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day after a brief business when the House was re-convened at 6 pm.
Though the agenda of the meeting is not known, it may have some political significance as it was held amid the row over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi, who was given a two-year jail term by a Surat court in a defamation case involving his remarks on PM Modi. The BJP has been batting hard for Gandhi’s disqualification and the decision currently lies with the Speaker.
Meanwhile, the Finance Bill, 2023, which was listed for discussion in Lok Sabha, was not taken up when the House resumed at 6 pm. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman was to move the Bill to give effect to the financial proposals of the Central government for the financial year 2023-2024. The Bill will now be tabled in Lok Sabha on Friday.
However, the Lok Sabha on Thursday passed ‘The Appropriation Bill, 2023’. The Bill authorises the government to draw a sum of Rs 2,70,509 crore from the Consolidated Fund of India for its working and implementation and programmes and schemes presented as part of the supplementary expenditure for FY23.
Notably, the opposition has been on the warpath in Parliament over the Adani-Hindenburg row and alleged misuse of Central investigative agencies, while the BJP has been adamant about its demand for an apology from Rahul Gandhi over his comments on Indian democracy at Cambridge university.
As the House convened at 11 am, BJP MPs raised slogans against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, seeking his apology for his democracy remarks in London, while Congress MPs raised slogans to seek a probe into the Adani issue. Congress members raised slogans while showing placards demanding a JPC to investigate the Hindenburg-Adani issue. Some members of the Opposition also trooped near the Speaker’s podium. As the House was not in order, Speaker Om Birla adjourned the Lower House till 2 pm.
The Rajya Sabha was also adjourned till 2 pm by chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar amid the uproar in the House by both treasury benches and opposition members. Prior to the adjournment, Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, Piyush Goyal said that Rahul Gandhi should apologise for his remarks in Parliament.
“It is important that the nation hears an apology from the leader of their party (Congress) who is responsible for causing so much discredit to the country and to Parliament,” Goyal said.
Earlier in the day, Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Pralhad Joshi, Arjun Ram Meghwal, V Muraleedharan and other floor leaders had met Dhankar in his chamber.