Both houses adjourned for the day after Adani bribery issue disrupts Parliament

New Delhi: Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned until 12 noon on Monday after opposition parties disrupted the sessions to raise various issues, including allegations of bribery against the Adani group and violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district, reported PTI.

As the Lok Sabha convened after the weekend break, opposition members, including Congress MPs, began raising concerns about the indictment of industrialist Gautam Adani in a US court on bribery charges, among other matters. Some opposition members entered the Well of the House, while others stood in the aisles, raised slogans.

Speaker Om Birla urged the opposition to allow the Question Hour to proceed and assured them that their concerns could be addressed later. Despite his appeals, the disruptions continued, with only one question being taken up before the Speaker adjourned the session until noon. The lower house had experienced similar disruptions last week, with opposition protests stalling proceedings.

Before the session began, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju was seen speaking with Congress leader K C Venugopal near the opposition benches. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi and DMK leader T R Baalu were also present. Following the adjournment, opposition leaders, including Venugopal, Baalu, TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee, and Samajwadi Party MPs Dharmendra Yadav and Zia ur Rehman Barq, met with the Speaker.

Meanwhile in the Rajya Sabha, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected 20 notices under Rule 267, including eight requests to discuss the US indictment that accused the Adani group of paying USD 265 million in bribes for solar power supply contracts. Dhankhar declared the notices inadmissible and compared the recurring disruptions to Murphy’s Law, which states, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

He voiced concern over the repeated adjournments since the Winter Session began on December 25, emphasising that the disruptions were hindering Parliament’s functioning. “Don’t make it dysfunctional,” Dhankhar urged opposition MPs, asking them to respect parliamentary processes and allow scheduled discussions.

Despite his appeals, opposition members stood their ground, demanding debates on their submitted notices. Congress MPs insisted on discussing the Adani bribery allegations, while Samajwadi Party members sought to address law and order issues in Sambhal.

Other notices included concerns over violence in Manipur, rising crimes in Delhi, atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh, and the need for special assistance to flood-hit Wayanad in Kerala. As the opposition persisted, the Rajya Sabha was also adjourned until 12 noon.