Delhi violence rocks House for fourth consecutive day
NEWDELHI: For the fourth day in a row, the logjam in the Parliament continued with the Opposition demanding a discussion on the communal riots in northeast Delhi that left 53 dead and hundreds injured. Because of disruptions by sparring members in the Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla did not come for the second day this week.
In the Rajya Sabha, too, the Opposition parties stuck to their stand that business in the House would only be allowed after a discussion on the communal riots in the city. The discussion on the Delhi riots is scheduled to come up in the Rajya Sabha on March 12.
Vice-president Venkaiah Naidu, however, said there could be no conditions for running the House before he allowed health minister Harsh Vardhan to make a detailed statement on the spread of coronavirus in India.
On the list of business on Thursday in the Lok Sabha were the passage of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act 1957, the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act 2015, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill 2019, as well as the Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
Opposition MPS NK Premachandran, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Manish Tewari and Vinayak Bhau Raut were to pass a motion opposing the promulgation of the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 (Ordinance No1 of 2020), which was promulgated by the President on January 10 this year.
However, as the House opened to wide disruptions, the Lok Sabha (LS) was soon adjourned till noon. Only two questions could be raised during the disruptions. In the speaker’s chair was Biju Janata Dal’s Bhartruhari Mahtab, who urged the disrupting members to quieten down, and said that if the government wants to talk, it should be allowed to and the debating members should stop the ruckus. He also said that the Speaker was saddened by such behaviour.
In the Upper House, Vardhan read out a statement on the status of the coronavirus (Covid 19) disease and the country’s state of preparedness to deal with it. Following the minister’s statement, members cutting across party lines came up with suggestions .
Congress’s Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad suggested that control rooms should be opened in all 650 districts in the office of the chief medical officer and they should be in touch with the health ministry 24X7. He said to generate awareness, announcements should be made at public places including railway stations and bus stops.
As the LS reconvened after noon, it, too, saw a discussion on the spread of coronavirus, with Vardhan reading a statement.