No business in Parliament as Opp sticks to guns on Bihar roll

Parliament on Thursday failed to transact any business as both the Houses faced repeated adjournments following opposition parties’ uproar, as they demanded a discussion on special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral roll in Bihar.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned twice and the Rajya Sabha three times before being finally adjourned for the day. The Election Commission is set to publish the draft electoral roll in Bihar on August 1, where around 65 lakh voters face the risk of being deleted.

When the Lower House convened in the morning, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla congratulated space scientists for the successful launch of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

Birla then tried to take up the Question Hour proceedings, but the opposition members started sloganeering and trooped into the well, demanding the rollback of SIR in Bihar. The Speaker expressed concern over their conduct requesting them to go back to their seats and allow the House to function but the opposition members continued with their protest following which the House was adjourned till 2 pm.

When the Lok Sabha reassembled at 2 pm to take up further business, the opposition members continued with their protest following which the House was adjourned till 4 pm.

The Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal read out a suo moto statement in the Lok Sabha at 4 pm regarding the imposition of 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods by the US, saying that the government is examining implications of the move.

He added that the country will take all steps to protect national interests and consulting with all stakeholders including farmers, entrepreneurs, MSMEs and industry bodies. Afterwards, the Speaker tried to run the Zero Hour, but in vain as opposition members again stormed into the well, seeking a discussion on SIR, leading to the House getting adjourned for the day.

Similar scenes were also witnessed in the Rajya Sabha also.

When the Rajya Sabha assembled in the morning, Deputy Chairman Harivansh tried to take up the Zero Hour proceedings, but the opposition started sloganeering demanding roll back of SIR in Bihar. As the pandemonium continued the Chair adjourned the House till 12 pm.

After repeated adjournments, when the Upper House reassembled at 4:30 pm, Goyal made a statement on the reciprocal tariff announced by the US on Indian goods. As the pandemonium continued after that, the House was adjourned for the day.