NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha proceedings were washed out Monday with BJP alleging Congress’s links with George Soros and the opposition party claiming that the Adani group was being shielded by BJP. After repeated adjournments, both Houses were finally adjourned for the day amid heated exchanges.
When Lok Sabha met at 11am, opposition members were on their feet. Speaker Om Birla asked them to return to their seats and allow the House to function. “The country wants the House to run. You are disrupting proceedings,” he said and adjourned the House till 12 noon.
As the House re-convened at noon, Congress members trooped into the well raising slogans against govt. They were joined by Samajwadi Party members. Congress MPs were heard saying that they had submitted notices to move a privilege motion against BJP’s Nishikant Dubey for attempts to link Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi to Soros-backed outfits allegedly involved in anti-India activities. TMC and RJD members stood in the aisle or at their seats in support of the protest. Noisy protests forced an adjournment till 2pm and then till 3pm, before proceedings were called off for the day.
Rajya Sabha too was adjourned for the day amid uproar over BJP and allies accusing top Congress leaders of colluding with Soros to destabilise the country. As soon as the House met, senior JD(U) leader Sanjay Jha said, “There are reports in national and international media that a senior Congress leader has links with George Soros. There should be a debate on this. He (Soros) has said that he has set aside $1 billion to remove Modi govt.”
In response, leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said, “Speaking about a member who is not present in the House is not right. We should not damage someone’s image.” To this, chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar asked, “Who is the member… which member are you referring to?” BJP’s Sudhanshu Trivedi said no one from the treasury benches had taken any name. “If the LoP is raising the matter, it means someone who is not present in the House is the one,” he said.
Soon after the House reassembled for zero hour at noon, BJP’s J P Nadda raised the Soros issue. He repeated his charges after the House met after lunch. Opposition parties demanded to know under what rule Dhankhar had allowed the treasury benches to speak. RS was finally adjourned around 4pm. Opposition claimed this was BJP’s way of diverting attention from the Adani issue.
