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Both Houses of parliament were adjourned till Monday after Opposition MPs created a ruckus demanding JPC probe against the Adani Group.
Both houses of parliament – the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha – were adjourned till Monday morning after Opposition parties created a ruckus on Friday to press their demand for a high-level probe into the Adani issue.
Soon after the Rajya Sabha convened for the day, Opposition parties – armed with a common strategy for the session – started sloganeering demanding an investigation by a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) into allegations of fraud and stock manipulation against the Adani Group.
The chair adjourned the House till Monday morning as Opposition members continued to disrupt proceedings.
Similarly, MPs of Congress, AAP, Trinamool Congress, DMK, CPI, CPM and other Opposition parties raised slogans against the Indian conglomerate and the Central government for not accepting their demand for the investigation.
Former Congress presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi – who is facing flak from the ruling BJP for his comments critical of Indian democracy in his speech delivered in London – also joined the Lok Sabha proceedings.
Rahul, who told media persons in parliament on Thursday that he wanted to reply to BJP’s allegations against him in the House, could not get a chance to speak on Friday as well as the House got adjourned.
On Thursday, when The New Indian sought his response to BJP’s demand for an apology for “defaming India” with his comment on foreign soil, he said, “If they allow me to speak in the Parliament then I will say what I think.”
The Lok Sabha has been adjourned, without giving Sh. @RahulGandhi the opportunity to speak.
As he said yesterday, this is a test for Indian democracy. And the prospects of the Modi government passing this test are looking increasingly bleak.
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) March 17, 2023
Taking a dig at the BJP, Rahul said that he must be allowed to speak in parliament if the “Indian democracy is still functioning”.
“I went to parliament and told the Speaker of the Lok Sabha that I want to speak as four ministers have levelled allegations against me and I must get a chance to speak. There is no clarity and I don’t think they will allow me to speak,” he told a press conference on Thursday.
“I am hopeful that tomorrow I might get a chance. And today when I went to house it was adjourned in one minute,” he said, adding that several parts of his speech that he made in Parliament a few days ago about Adani and the relationship between PM Modi and Adani Group were expunged.
“There was nothing in it as all the facts were taken from the public domain and yet it was expunged. They are scared of the Adani issue and that is the reason why they expunged my part of the speech,” the Congress leader said.
He further said, “The country is watching whether I will be allowed to give my clarification or I will be told to shut up. So, actually what you are seeing is a test of Indian democracy.”
BJP is seeking Rahul Gandhi’s apology on the floor of the House for the comments in London.
Rahul Gandhi also emphasized that the entire episode was scripted by the BJP to divert people’s attention from the Adani issue. “PM yet to reply to questions I asked in my last Parliament speech about Adani Group,” he added.
Earlier, Union Minister Piyush Goyal demanded an apology stating that Rahul Gandhi should come to Parliament House and apologize to the speaker and members of the house for defaming Indian democracy on foreign soil.
Besides Goyal, Union ministers Kiren Rijiju, Smriti Irani, Rajnath Singh, and BJP president JP Nadda have also demanded Rahul Gandhi’s apology.
