Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha proceedings were virtually washed out for the 15th straight day on Wednesday, with the Opposition carrying out noisy protests over the demonetization issue, leading to two adjournments of the House before the Chair called it a day.
Due to the unabated commition, the Lower House could not take up the listed legislative business including consideration and passage of the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, the Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Bill and the Mental Healthcare Bill.
As soon as the House re-assembled in the afternoon after two adjournments since morning, Telangana Rashtra Samiti member A P Jitender Reddy was called by the Chair to initiate the debate on demonetisation under Rule 193, which does not entail voting.
When Reddy started reading out his written speech, Opposition members, particularly those from the Trinamool Congress, came near his seat and indulged in vociferous slogan-shouting, apparently to drown his voice in the din. Large number of Congress and other Opposition parties were also seen raising slogans from the aisles or inside the Well.
“We want discussion and voting on it,” the TMC members shouted, indicating that they would allow debate only when it takes place under Rule 184 which entails voting.
Why not adjourn it sine die: Advani on House disruptions
Bharatiya Janata Party veteran L K Advani on Wednesday expressed deep distress over the way the Lok Sabha proceedings were being conducted, saying neither the speaker nor the parliamentary affairs minister was running the House.
A visibly agitated Advani was heard expressing his unhappiness to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar over the continuing protests in the House at a time when some opposition members had even come to the side of Treasury benches raising slogans in the Well.
“Neither the Speaker nor the parliamentary affairs minister is running the House,” he was heard remarking just before the House was adjourned 15 minutes ahead of the lunch recess, amid slogan-shouting by Congress and TMC members.
“I am going to tell the speaker that she is not running the House ... I am going to say it publicly. Both sides are a party to this,” he said as Kumar was seen pacifying the senior parliamentarian. He also pointed to the media gallery, apparently suggesting that his comments will be reported.
As the House was adjourned, the 89-year-old leader asked a Lok Sabha official till what time it has been adjourned. When told that it was till 2 pm, he snapped, “Why not sine die?"
As Reddy’s speech was not audible due to the loud sloganeering, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the TRS member had every right to speak as ‘he is an honourable member of the House’ and discussion on demonetisation has already begun under Rule 193.
“He (Reddy) is initiating the debate on demonetisation. He has welcomed (PM) Narendra Modi’s bold decision. TRS chief and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has also welcomed the demonetisation,” Kumar said.
As the chaos continued, Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party MP Pralhad Joshi who was in the Chair adjourned the House for the day.
Earlier when the proceedings commenced at 11 am, the Opposition insisted on their demand for a discussion on demonetisation under Rule 184
Members of the Congress, TMC and the Left parties soon entered the Well, raising slogans and demanding voting after a debate on the demonetisation issue.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in the House at that time as questions for the Prime Minister’s Office were listed to be taken up during Question Hour. However, he left the House shortly thereafter.
Rejecting the Opposition demand, the parliamentary affairs minister said voting had already taken place and it has gone in favour of the prime minister.
When Kumar said Modi has got the highest votes in the ‘Time’ magazine opinion poll and the voting has already taken place, Leader of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge objected to it.
The minister was referring to the results of the opinion poll carried out by prominent American magazine Time, in which Modi got the highest votes for 2016 Person of the Year.
Reacting to Kharge’s objection, Kumar said ‘it is beyond my understanding why the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and Left parties are opposing the discussion under Rule 193’.
Kumar’s remarks were met with vociferous slogans by the Opposition members who demanded a debate under rule 184 which entails voting after the discussion. With slogan shouting continuing unabated, the House was adjourned till noon.
Similar scenes continued when the House met again at noon. However, the speaker directed the laying of papers and allowed members to raise issues of importance.
Congress and TMC members stormed the Well chanting slogans against the government and seeking a discussions under Rule 184. They also sought to know where the black money had disappeared and wanted the government to unearth it.
In the melee, the Speaker took up the Zero Hour by asking members to raise issues of urgent public importance. But as the din continued, she adjourned the House till 2 pm.
Rajya Sabha
The issue of demonetisation of old Rs 500 and 1,000 notes continued to rock the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, virtually washing out its proceedings even as the government dared the Opposition to resume discussion on the issue rather than disrupting the House.
Both the zero hour and the question hour were disrupted as members of the Treasury and Opposition benches resorted to sloganeering over the issue leading Deputy Chairman P J Kurien to adjourn the proceedings till noon.
Similar scenes were witnessed at noon forcing Chairman Hamid Ansari to adjourn the House again till 2 pm.
While the Congress wanted to know who was responsible for the death of at least 84 persons in hardships caused due to the ‘unplanned’ demonetisation, other opposition parties including the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party wanted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apologise for putting the common man to hardship.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley blamed the Opposition for using the tactics of disruption on a daily basis rather than resuming the discussion started on the first day of the winter session on November 16 and which is yet to conclude.
The government, he said, had not wasted even a minute to agree to a debate on the issue. It also agreed to the rule under which the debate is to be conducted as well as to the demand that the PM will participate in it, Jaitley said.
But instead of participating and concluding the debate, the Opposition has been using the zero hour to raise the issue for ‘getting footage on TV rather than listening to substantive facts on the issue. ... If the Opposition has the guts, the debate should resume’, the Leader of the House said.
Immediately thereafter, Bharatiya Janata Party members started raising slogans like ‘himmat hai to charcha karo (If you have guts, discuss the matter).’
Jaitley also raised a point of order saying how can the Chair allow an issue on which substantial portion of debate has happened, to be raised during zero hour again.
Kurien agreed with the Leader of the House and asked the Opposition benches if they were ready for a discussion.
As Treasury benches continued to shout slogans seeking resumption of discussion, the opposition members raised slogans daring Modi to come to the House and listen to the debate. As the din continued, Kurien adjourned the proceedings till noon.
Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said 84 persons have died in hardships caused due to the demonetisation issue in last one month.
Azad said the list includes 40 persons in 15 states dying standing in queues in front of banks and ATMs in the last one month and five bank employees in four states losing their lives due to stress. People have committed suicide as they could not arrange for currency for their daughters’ wedding, he said.
"Who is responsible for the death of 84 persons," he asked and added that ‘the (demonetisation) scheme was brought without planning and preparation’ that has led to severe cash shortage as alternate currency was not available.
As people scrambled to lay hand on valid currency, large scale job losses have been reported as a fallout of demonetisation, the senior Congress leader said.
Azad said Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia on Tuesday stated that all the currency that was demonetised was supposed to come back to the formal banking system, implying there was no black money or unaccounted wealth in the economy.
"If all money was to come back, why was this high-handed decision taken?" he asked.
Also, the Reserve Bank of India has for the last 10 days stopped giving out deposits and exchange of old and debunked currency, he said wanting to know the reason why the central bank has stopped the practice.
The RBI, he said, should provide an update on the issue every day.
Azad also cited a reply to a question in Rajya Sabha earlier this week where it was stated that banks have enough currency. If that is so, why there are queues in front of banks and ATMs, he asked.
"Please don't play with the sentiments of the people by making emotional statements," he said referring the emotional speeches made by Modi on the demonetisation issue.
Naresh Agarwal (SP) said the prime minister should apologise for the hardships caused to the people, come to House to listen and reply to the debate on demonetisation.
Mayawati (BSP) said Modi had said that the hardships would be resolved in 50 days but it has been one month and there is no end to the sufferings.
The entire Opposition is willing to listen to the PM provided he comes to the House, she said, adding that Modi should apologise for the hardships caused.
Kurien then asked how can the Opposition discuss the issue without resuming the debate. He also directed the BJP members not to raise slogans. But with neither side relenting, he adjourned the proceedings till noon.
When the House reassembled at noon, Chairman Hamid Ansari took up the question hour but opposition members were on their feet, with many of them speaking at the same time leading to uproar.
As he called the first question to be taken up and asked Vivek Tankha (Congress) to ask his supplementaries, members of the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Left, the BSP and the SP were on their feet raising issues together.
Congress members said that for 18 days, the PM has not come or heard them as they wanted to discuss the issue of demonetisation.
TMC members also demanded the prime minister’s apology over his remarks against the Opposition for raising the demonetisation issue.
At one point, Satyavrat Chaturvedi (Congress), Satish Misra (BSP), Tapan Sen (Communist Party of India-Marxist), Naresh Agrawal (SP) and TMC members were speaking together.
Soon TMC and Congress members stood in the aisle and started raising slogans and then trooped into the Well. Some members of treasury benches also raised slogans in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Chairman Hamid Ansari then adjourned the House till 2 pm.
As the House reassembled at 2 pm after two adjournments, Leader of the House Arun Jaitley said the government has already made it clear it was ready for a debate and the PM will make an intervention. He said he would himself sit through and reply to questions raised by them.
“If the Opposition wants a debate, it should honestly tell whether they want it or not. Let them not impose unreasonable and impossible conditions for the debate,” he said, accusing the opposition of raising ‘unrealistic demands’ which has never been the practice in the House.
“Now you have started raising conditions which has never been raised in history of this House. It has never happened. There is no practice in the House, not a single practice that a member says that when he speaks the PM should be in the House.
“You have a right to presume that you have importance yourself. But there is no such precedence in the House since 1952 that the Prime Minister must be here to listen to every member. Otherwise, the prime minister has many responsibilities,” Jaitley said.
He was responding to the persistent demands by the Opposition seeking the presence of Modi in the House as a condition to resume the unfinished debate on demonetisation, with Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury saying there has been such precedents when erstwhile Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sat through the debates on 2G and coal scams in the House.
Jaitley said the government and the council of ministers functioned under the principle of collective responsibility and there was no principle that a particular person has to answer the questions raised.
This did not satisfy the Opposition members who raised an uproar. With Deputy Chairman P J Kurien calling for the Disabilities Bill be taken up while agreeing with the demand raised by Social Justice Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot, opposition members including those from the Congress and the Trinamool Congress started raising slogans and trooped into the Well.
The slogans were countered by Bharatiya Janata Party members too. While Opposition was seeking the prime minister’s presence, the members of treasury benches called for the functioning of the House and the debate to resume. Amid the pandemonium, Kurien adjourned the House for the day.
Earlier some opposition members including Yechury, Naresh Agrawal (Samajwadi Party) and Anand Sharma (Congress) asserted that there were precedents in the House when during debates on 2G Spectrum and coal scams, the then PM Manmohan Singh sat through the entire debate.
This demand was rejected by Jaitley saying there is no such practice that the prime minister should hear out each and every member when they spoke.
Raising a point of order, Pramod Tiwari (Congress) said the prime minister, the finance minister and the council of ministers should be disqualified under Rule 102-C as they have failed to honour the currency notes which were legal tenders.
Raising the issue, Tiwari said the government had turned into a ‘pauper’ as it has failed to honour the legal tender.
“If they cannot give our money to us, they should resign from the House...This government has turned a pauper. This government is not worth being in power. They should all resign. The council of ministers, the prime minister and the finance minister should be disqualified under Rule 102-C,” he said.
Kurien had a hearty laughter and said ‘that is no point of order. What he raised is a point of disorder’.
Many opposition members raised the point demanding the presence of the prime minister in the House. Among those raising the issue included Congress leader Anand Sharma, Tiruchi Siva (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), K Keshava Rao (Telangana Rashtra Samiti) and Yechury, but their demand did not find favour with the Chair.
“I am hearing it for last one week that the PM should be here. Under what Rule? You can only request the prime minister. To make it a condition is not proper,” he said.
But slogan-shouting from the aisles by BJP members and their Opposition counterparts, many of whom were protesting in the Well, led Kurien to adjourn the House for the day.
Photographs: PTI Photo