Disruptions return? Opposition walks out over fuel price hike
Hours after the government announced a rise in petrol, diesel, and cooking gas, most opposition parties walked out of the Lok Sabha and disrupted Rajya Sabha, protesting the announcement. Some, like AAP, were not present in the House.
Members of the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Left parties raised slogans against the move and walked out of the lower house demanding he government roll back the hike after Speaker Om Birla rejected a demand for an adjournment motion (a motion that sets aside all other business to discuss the matter on an urgent basis).
An initial attempt to raise the matter before the Question House started was also rejected by the Speaker. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the opposition parties had been warning the prices of diesel and petrol would increase after the assembly elections to five states were concluded. “They have been falsely claiming that the price rise has nothing to do with elections. This is wrong. They didn’t want to upset voters before they voted. Don’t forget that the central tax on fuel is more than 50 per cent but they never think of reducing it,” senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said.
In the Rajya Sabha, while TMC members stormed into the well of the House carrying placards, the Congress, Left, Samajwadi Party, and Shiv Sena MPs were on their feet. The House was adjourned and when it met again Deputy Chairman Harivansh called for the listed Question Hour to be taken and asked opposition parties to not disrupt the proceedings. Unrelenting, the opposition members shouted slogans, drowning out Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertiliser Bhagwanth Khuba who was replying to the first listed question.
Harivansh asked TMC leader Derek O’Brien to call his party MPs back to their seats and allow Question Hour to proceed, saying precious national resources have been spent. With opposition members continuing their vociferous protests, he adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.
“By increasing fuel prices the Modi government is making money worth Rs 10,000 crore by plundering the poor. Many say prices are rising due to the Ukraine-Russia crisis, but as per Petroleum Ministry, we didn’t buy even 1 per cent of crude oil from Russia,” Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said.
SP MP Jaya Bachchan said the party’s chief Akhilesh Yadav had been warning that prices would rise after the elections. “We don’t know who has put these people (BJP) in power)?” Bachchan said. “It can’t be the voters”.
However, the Opposition returned to the House in the Rajya Sabha to join discussions on demand for grants by various ministries under the Budget, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with Union ministers, including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, and Nitin Gadkari, to discuss various issues and government strategy for the remaining session, raising questions about the remainder of the tenure of the Budget session. The second half of the Budget session of Parliament resumed on March 14 and will conclude on April 8.
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