Lok Sabha adjourned as MPs in RS block seats in protest

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 20

In a first in the history of Parliament, ruckus in the Rajya Sabha today led to an adjournment in the Lok Sabha.

Soon as the Lok Sabha assembled at 3 pm, Opposition Congress demanded its adjournment saying MPs allotted seats in the Rajya Sabha on account of Covid protocol will not be able to sit there due to a dharna by some Rajya Sabha members. They sat in protest against the passage of farm Bills even after House adjournment at 1 pm.

Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House for an hour due to unavailability of seats for some. On account of Covid protocol, both Houses are assembling at different times these days to enable enough seats for MPs who need to follow a two-yard physical distancing measure. While the Rajya Sabha sits from 9 am to 1 pm daily, the Lok Sabha timings are from 3 pm to 7 pm.

The Congress requested the Speaker for the situation in the Rajya Sabha to normalise before the Lok Sabha proceedings could start.

“Since MPs have been allotted seats in the Rajya Sabha, which is currently disrupted, we urge the chair to adjourn the Lok Sabha until the Upper House situation normalises,” Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, asking for a two-hour adjournment.