Lok Sabha adjourned till 3 pm amid uproar over West Asia debate

The Lok Sabha witnessed repeated adjournments on Monday as Opposition members disrupted proceedings demanding a full-fledged debate on the West Asia crisis. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s statement was drowned out by slogans.

New Delhi: Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 3 pm on Monday amid noisy protests over demand for a debate on the situation in West Asia, with the government accusing the opposition benches of not following basic ethics of the House.

As soon as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar rose to make a statement on the “situation in West Asia”, opposition members started raising slogans against the government and demanding a full fledged discussion on the ongoing crisis in West Asia.

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Jagadambika Pal, who was chairing the proceedings, said the questions being raised by the Opposition through their placards were being elaborately answered by the government.

He said while a resolution to remove Om Birla as the Lok Sabha Speaker is already on the agenda, the Opposition was pushing for a notice for adjournment of the proceedings to discuss West Asia.

He wondered how the opposition wants to discuss the two issues on the same day.

“If you are not satisfied with the statement, please approach the business advisory committee to seek a discussion on the subject,” Pal said.

After Jaishankar completed his statement, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju accused the opposition of not following ethics of the House.

Rijiju said their notice to remove Birla from office has already been accepted and the government is willing to discuss it but opposition was disrupting the proceedings.

While urging members to go back to their seats, Pal said the no confidence resolution against the Speaker would be taken up when the House is in order.

As the opposition refused to relent, he adjourned the proceedings till 3 pm.

Earlier, the House was adjourned for one hour after paying tributes to one sitting and four former members who had passed away recently.