The opposition has boycotted proceedings in both houses after eight MPS were suspended.,
The monsoon session of Parliament — which started after nearly five months of indefinite adjournment — is likely to conclude on Wednesday, eight days ahead of schedule. Amid concerns over coronavirus, the session will again end on an indefinite note. More than 25 members have tested positive for the highly contagious virus before and during the short session.
Lok Sabha, which will meet at 3 pm tomorrow, is likely to be adjourned sine die around 5 pm after an extended Zero Hour, sources said. Rajya Sabha is likely to adjourn sine die after taking up five bills, the sources said.
The abrupt conclusion of the session comes amid an uproar over the government’s big-ticket farm bills, which were passed by the Rajya Sabha on Sunday.
With eight opposition MPs suspended from the house yesterday over Sunday’s ruckus, the opposition has boycotted the proceedings in both houses, demanding that the suspension be revoked. Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said all opposition parties are boycotting Parliament in solidarity with the suspended Rajya Sabha members.
The opposition also boycotted the Business Advisory Committee meeting of the Rajya Sabha that was called on a short notice today.
Several members of the opposition including Trinamool Congress’s Derek O’Brien, Samajwadi Party’s Ram Gopal Yadav, Congress’s Anand Sharma and Jairam Ramesh and Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Manoj Kumar Jha were part of the 11-member committee that discusses the weekly agenda.
Led by Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu, the committee met today to discuss the impending adjournment of the house in view of the coronavirus situation.
In the mandatory covid tests for parliamentarians before the monsoon session started, 17 members of the Lok Sabha and eight from the Rajya Sabha had tested positive.
Over the 10-day session, several others, including Union minister Nitin Gadkari, tested positive.
Cutting across both houses, around 200 parliamentarians are in the vulnerable age group for Covid and many of them had avoided the session over health concerns.
