Amid ruckus by the Opposition Rajya Sabha witnessed its third adjournment on the first day of the monsoon session on Monday. Leader of House in the Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal slammed the opposition parties for forcing adjournments of the two Houses of Parliament. “We condemn the manner in which opposition MPs behaved on the first day of the session today. We saw a very unfortunate situation both in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. In Rajya Sabha, the address of the Chairman was interrupted too,” Goyal told media persons.
“It is unfortunate that the introduction of OBCs, Dalits, SCs, STs, representatives of northeastern states, women as ministers was interrupted. A democratic process was halted by Opposition MPs. It is an insult to the democracy and people of India. We condemn this,” he added.
Due to the protest by opposition members Lok Sabha was also adjourned till 11 am on Tuesday.
The Speaker adjourned the proceedings of the houses as the Opposition continued sloganeering of ‘We want justice’ as Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw issued a statement on the ‘Pegasus Project’.
Speaking on ‘Pegasus Project’, Vaishnaw said reports had no factual basis and were denied by all parties.
“A highly sensational story was published by a web portal last night. Many over-the-top allegations were made around this story. The press reports appeared a day before the monsoon session of Parliament. This can’t be a coincidence,” said Vaishnaw.
In the past, similar claims were made regarding the use of Pegasus on WhatsApp. Those reports had no factual basis and were denied by all parties. Press reports of July 18 also appear to be an attempt to malign Indian democracy and its well-established institutions,” he added.
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi said, “I want to reassure that government is ready to discuss any subject.” (ANI)
