Parliament Session | Day 2 sees Opposition sloganeering intensify; Both LS, RS adjourned

The second day of the Lok Sabha on Tuesday witnessed only 15 minutes of legislative business, as Opposition sloganeering and protests forced the House to be adjourned till 12 noon during the Question Hour. As soon as the proceedings began at 11 AM, Opposition MPs continued their chant of 'vote chor, gaddi chod' (vote thief, leave your seat) against the Central government, while demanding a discussion on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The slogans started the second the proceedings began at 11 AM, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla urged the Opposition MPs to maintain decorum and get back to their seats. He claimed that the protests are not in the interests of the Parliament or the country. "Dear members, I would request you, the Question Hour is important, please let it continue. I am seeing the way you are protesting, inside the house and outside, this is not in the interest of the Parliament or the country," Speaker Birla said.

Monday's session also saw repeated adjournments with legislative business taking place just short of an hour throughout the day. "Is this the tradition of the MPs? The country is watching, disagreement in the Parliament is common but please maintain respect," the Speaker said. While the Opposition MPs continued their protest over the ongoing SIR, both in and outside the Parliament, the Congress party has criticised the recent order of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) ordering mobile phones to pre install the cyber fraud reporting app Sanchar Saathi. Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju today responded to the Opposition's criticism of the Sanchar Saathi app, urging parties not to create disruptions in Parliament and assuring that the government is open to debate on all issues. Speaking to reporters, Rijiju said, "They dont need to dig out issues. A list of businesses has been prepared, and there are many issues. We will have a debate on the issues raised by the opposition as well, and think about how we need to move ahead. They dont need to find new issues and disturb the Parliament." Meanwhile, outside the Parliament, Congress and other opposition MPs staged a protest against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll as the Parliament gears up for the second day of the Winter Session. Opposition members, including MPs from the INDIA bloc, gathered outside the Makar Dwar of the Parliament ahead of the day's proceedings to express their discontent over the ongoing SIR exercise.