Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 pm amid opposition protest on Pegasus issue

Rajya Sabha proceedings were on Monday adjourned twice in the pre-lunch session following uproar by Opposition members over the Pegasus snooping row and various other issues.

When the House meet at noon after an adjournment, Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh, who was in the chair, proceeded with the scheduled Question Hour.

But the opposition members continued to create an uproar and jumped in the well sloganeering over the Pegasus snooping controversy, farm laws and other issues.

Immediately after that Singh adjourned the House till 2 pm.

Earlier, proceedings of the upper house were adjourned till 12 noon after Opposition parties insisted on a discussion on the issue of Pegasus spyware allegedly being used to snoop on opposition leaders, government critics and journalists.

Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said he has admitted the discussion on the farmers’ agitation against farm laws, price rise and the flood situation in some parts of the country.

The Opposition parties insisted that the Pegasus issue should also be discussed.

As Opposition members stood up and some from the TMC started moving towards the Well of the House, Naidu adjourned the proceedings till 12 noon.

Before adjourning, he said as many as eight MPs have given notices under Rule 267.

“Some are on Pegasus, some are on farmers’ issue, some are on floods in different parts of the country because of heavy rains,” Naidu said.

“I have already admitted, I have already said it in the Business Advisory (BAC) meeting and also conveyed to the government about the need to discuss the farmers’ issue once again,” he said as Opposition members sought to know the status of the notices on Pegasus.

Naidu said he has already admitted “farmers issue, price rise, flood issue and other issues” before adjourning the proceedings till 12 pm.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor