Oppn protests continue to disrupt House

PRESIDING OFFICERS OF THE TWO HOUSES EXPRESS THEIR DISPLEASURE AT THE CONDUCT OF THE MEMBERS

NEW DELHI: Parliamentary proceedings continued to be disrupted for the sixth day on Tuesday after opposition parties continued to block proceedings to demand that the government agree to a discussion on the Pegasus snooping controversy, provoking presiding officers of the two Houses to repeatedly express their displeasure at the conduct of the members. “All of you should introspect if this is what we make of our exalted parliamentary democracy. I will never accept such dictation by anybody. Dictation or dramatics are not going to be accepted by the Chair, whoever is in the Chair,” Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said amid sloganeering when ministers were laying down government notifications on the table of the House in the Rajya Sabha.

In the Lok Sabha, speaker Om Birla told Opposition MPs: “Don’t compete for sloganeering in the House. You should compete to raise the problems of the people. But you are competing in sloganeering. Remember, the are watching you”.

The reprimand, however, did not have much of an impact on the Opposition which intends to work closely with each other to escalate their protests over the alleged use of Israeli firm NSO’s software on Indian citizens and the three farm laws.

“If the opposition members have even the slightest regard for the farmers, they should sit in their places peacefully. You should raise your issue through these questions and listen to the reply of the government,” Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on the opposition strategy of disruption.

The din in the House not only hurts the dignity of the house but also reveals the true character of the opposition parties in the context of farmers, he said.