New Delhi: The political fight over Bengal ponzi scam witnessed shutdown of the Rajya Sabha for the second consecutive day on Tuesday and the Lok Sabha starting debate on motion of thanks in the afternoon to the President’s address despite the ruckus in the well.
The BJP’s Hukmdev Narayan Yadav piloted the motion and spoke on the President’s address with his party colleague Jagdamba Pal forcefully seconded it. The Speaker, however, adjourned the debate first for half an hour and then for Wednesday on Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge’s request and Trinamul Congress leader Sudipto Bandopadhyay promising to participate if the debate is adjourned.
Adjourning for half an hour, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan invited leaders in her chamber and then decided to continue the debate even while Bandopadhyay at 4 PM led his party’s walkout in protest of Prime Minister Modi not coming to the House as demanded by his party to explain the Kolkata imbroglio. The Lok Sabha may conclude the motion of thanks to the President on Wednesday and take up the interim budget on Thursday, but there is still no certainty on the return of normalcy in the Rajya Sabha.
On the political front, Mamata has succeeded to bring the Opposition together on the singular issue of “Oust Modi” in the coming elections in what senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge summed up in the Lok Sabha as Prime Minister Modi’s attempt to misuse the government machinery to finish all opposition leaders. Parliament may witness some order in the remainder of six sittings of the budget session, but the upcoming Lok Sabha elections have gripped both the sides to make every move with an eye on advantages in the polls.
