1 Week Of Parliament Impasse Over Adani Row, Rahul Gandhi, No End In Sight
NEW DELHI: Amid a week-long standoff between the BJP and the opposition, protesters today staged a footpath protest demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani-Hindenburg issues. They chanted “We want JPC” and hung a huge banner from the first floor of the Parliament building.
Leaders of Congress, DMK, Left parties and Bharat Rashtra Samiti participated in the protest.
The Rajya Sabha Speaker called the leaders of the meeting in his chamber this morning regarding the matter. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has also called for an all-party meeting in his chamber at 1 pm. He had also yesterday appealed to all parties to allow the house to be traded separately. This is the first time the Speaker has called for an all-party meeting after chaos erupted in the House as the second half of the budget session began.
Leaders of opposition parties also attended the strategy meeting held in the chamber of Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Karkeji in the Parliament building. INC, DMK, JDU, SS, CPM, CPI, MDMK, JMM, IUML, J&K NC, NCP, AAP and VCK participated in the meeting.
The political deadlock continued for the seventh consecutive day as 4 Congress MPs submitted notices of adjournment motions in the Rajya Sabha.
Trinamool Congress MPs staged a separate protest at the Parliament premises demanding that Prime Minister Modi break his silence on the Adani issue.
Accusing the government of helping businessman Gautam Adhani’s group by not ordering an inquiry into fraud allegations, the party demanded Mr Adhani’s arrest.
Opposition leaders have accused the Prime Minister of protecting the billionaire industrialist, who he says is his close friend, by distracting people from the Adani Group’s stock fraud allegations over Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s London remarks.
The government has informed that the Supreme Court is conducting an inquiry into the matter and has constituted a committee in this regard.
Both the Houses of Parliament were adjourned till 2 pm on Tuesday after ruling party members demanded that Rahul Gandhi apologize for his comments on the Adani issue and Indian democracy.
The Adani Group has denied the allegations of wrongdoing.
BJP is demanding an apology from Congress MP Rahul Gandhi who spoke about Indian democracy during his visit to England. A Wayanad MP has sought time to respond to the BJP’s allegations that he sought foreign intervention in India and insulted the country by questioning Indian democracy abroad, but the ruling party is protesting in both houses of Parliament to demand an apology. First of all.
Rahul Gandhi refused to apologize and said that he will answer these allegations in the Lok Sabha. However, sources in the BJP said they would not allow him to speak outside Parliament unless he apologized first.
At Cambridge University, Mr Gandhi said Indian democracy was under pressure and opposition voices were being suppressed. “The institutional framework necessary for democracy — Parliament, free press and judiciary, mobilization and movement around everything is being restricted. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy.” He had said.