On Wednesday, exchanges between the treasury benches and the Opposition over the rule under which a debate on demonetisation should take place stalled Lok Sabha while Rajya Sabha witnessed repeated adjournments with the Opposition demanding the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the House.
The government refused to take up a debate under a rule which entails voting at the end while the Opposition, which did not appear to be united on the voting issue, insisted on an adjournment motion.
The Prime Minister was present in Lok Sabha since questions relating to the departments he handles were to come up in the lower House. He is likely to be in Rajya Sabha Thursday during question hour.
In Lok Sabha, the ruling BJP managed to bring on board allies Shiv Sena and SAD (Badal) which had reservations on the demonetisation rollout. Leaders of both parties said that they would settle for a discussion under Rule 193 which is the government’s preference. On the opening day of the winter session, Shiv Sena MPs had joined a Trinamool Congress protest march to Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The AIADMK, which had stayed away from protests inside the House, joined the Congress, Left, TMC, SP, BSP, DMK, JD(U) and other parties at a demonstration staged before the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the premises of Parliament House.
When Lok Sabha met in the morning, the Prime Minister was present in the House. He watched as Congress and TMC MPs rushed to the well, shouting slogans and raising placards. Congress MPs also carried two banners, one with a slogan that questioned the “absence” of the Prime Minister.
