Opposition members on Tuesday waved placards and shouted slogans from the first-floor balcony of Parliament, a site that a senior MP said had never before witnessed a protest, seeking a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the Adani controversy.
Multiple BJP sources, including an MP, later suggested the government could bring an early end to the deadlocked budget session, currently scheduled to close on April 16, to escape the daily protests on the Adani affair. Hours after the optics of the late-morning protest by 16 Opposition parties, the government rushed to start the process of passing the budget. The second Appropriation Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha.
The second Appropriation Bill — or supplementary demands for grants — was passed in the lower House without discussion amid sloganeering by the Opposition for a JPC. The first Appropriation Bill had been passed earlier. While the government has time till March 31 to pass the Finance Bill, sources said it could push for its passage this week or early next week and then have both Houses adjourned sine die. Opposition MPs had rushed to the pillared, circular firstfloor balcony around 11.30am after both Houses were adjourned in the morning.
“For the first time, a protest is being carried out from the first floor of Parliament,” senior Congress MP Pradip Bhattacharya said. Normally, such protests are held on the Parliament grounds, near the Gandhi statue. The Opposition members held up placards and hung a huge poster that read: “We want JPC.” The poster added: “Modi Adani bhai bhai, desh lootke khai malai (Modi and Adani are brothers plundering the country).”
The novel protest site drew the attention of some BJP members too. Former Union minister Prakash Javadekar and some of his party colleagues were spotted watching the protest from the grounds as the media swarmed to capture the visuals from below. Trinamul staged a separate protest — at Vijay Chowk, outside the Parliament premises — demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi get Adani arrested.
“There is no possibility of the logjam getting resolved and so the government wants to pass the budget this week,” a BJP member said. Another MP said the budget session could be wound up early after the passage of the Finance Bill. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla held a meeting with the floor leaders during the lunch recess but achieved no breakthrough. Congress House leader Adhir Chowdhury and the DMK’s T.R. Baalu are said to have reaffirmed at the meeting that the Opposition would not give up its demand for a JPC probe into the Adani affair. The government was equally firm about not allowing either a House discussion on the subject or a JPC probe, sources said. In the Rajya Sabha, leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge asserted there was no question of Rahul Gandhi apologising for his remarks in the UK about a threat to democracy in India.
The ruling side launched another round of attacks on Rahul before Parliament assembled for the day. “He (Rahul) is the present-day Mir Zafar of Indian polity. He insulted the country and asked foreign powers to intervene in the country,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters at the party office. “He has to apologise. We will make him apologise.” Both Houses again witnessed uproar and were adjourned till Thursday, Wednesday being a holiday on account of several festivals. After lunch, the government got the Appropriation Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir budget passed amid the din in the Lok Sabha.
