Deadlock in Parliament continues, both Houses adjourned till March 20

CONG GIVES BREACH OF PRIVILEGE NOTICE OVER PM’S REMARKS ON NEHRU SURNAME

NEW DELHI: Both the Houses of Parliament were again adjourned for the day on Friday due to slogan shouting by the Opposition and protests by the ruling party members over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's "democracy-under attack" remarks made in London recently. This was the fifth consecutive day that Houses did not function ever since the second half of the Budget Session began on March 13. Both the Houses will meet again on March 20. There are only 14 days of sitting left to clear key legislative business including the Appropriation Bill and to hold debate on key subjects such as Railways and Rural Development.

Proceedings on Sansad TV were mostly inaudible. While Parliament sources said it was the result of a technical glitch, several Congress leaders alleged that proceedings were "muted" when its MPs raised slogans demanding that Gandhi be allowed to speak, and asked if this was democracy.

As soon as the Lok Sabha assembled for the day, some Congress members trooped to the Well of the House shouting slogans and demanded that Gandhi be allowed to speak in the House.

They also demanded a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into alleged stock manipulation by the Adani Group, a business conglomerate headed by industrialist Gautam Adani.

The members of the treasury benches also raised counter-slogans from their seats, demanding an apology from Gandhi for his remarks.

The turmoil continued for about 20 minutes, with Speaker Om Birla urging the members to allow the House to function smoothly.

The protesting members ignored his pleas, and the speaker adjourned the House for the day.

In a tweet, the Congress alleged that the proceedings were "muted" when its MPs raised slogans demanding that Gandhi be allowed to speak.

Is this democracy, the party asked.

Tagging this tweet, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posted: "Democracy' in words but 'dictatorship' in action.