New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan rejected the Opposition’s demand for a discussion on prices being held over an adjournment motion moved by it, that entailed voting.
A strident Opposition then disrupted the LS, with some members trooping into the well, and its incessant sloganeering forced three adjournments as the PM looked on.
The House was adjourned for the third and final time a few minutes after 2 pm after yet another uproar. Joining in the protest, but silently, was Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who did not go into the well but stood in the aisle. Often accused of not being an active participant in the proceedings during UPA-1 and UPA-2, Rahul stood a few feet away from his mother Sonia Gandhi, who remained seated.
Ms Mahajan told the House that a discussion on rising prices could be held, but only under Rule 193, that does not entail voting. The Speaker also said that she had rejected the notices for an adjournment motion, but accepted notices under Rule 193.
Parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said that the government was ready to discuss the matter and it was up to the Speaker to decide.5
