New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is learnt to be upset at the repeated disruptions in the House and stayed away from the proceedings on Wednesday morning.
Parliament officials said Birla was upset at the behaviour of both the Opposition and Treasury benches during the passage of bills in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
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The officials said that both the opposition and treasury benches have been conveyed of the Speaker's displeasure over the repeated disruptions in Parliament since the Monsoon session began on July 20.
The Speaker holds the dignity of the House in highest esteem and expects members to maintain decorum during the proceedings, officials said.
Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on Wednesday as opposition members continued with their protests on the Manipur issue even as Speaker Om Birla, upset at the repeated disruptions in the House, skipped the proceedings.
As the House assembled for the post-lunch session, the opposition members trooped into the well of the House and raised slogans demanding a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the situation in Manipur, which has been roiled by months-long ethnic violence.
BJP member Kirit Solanki, who was in the Chair, appealed to the opposition members to maintain decorum as he asked ministers to lay parliamentary papers on the table of the House.
With the opposition leaders refusing to budge, the Chair adjourned the proceedings for the day.
Lok Sabha was scheduled to take up the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023 for consideration and passage on Wednesday.
Birla skipped the proceedings of the day as he is upset over the repeated disruptions in the House, according to Parliament officials.
Meanwhile, members of the opposition INDIA bloc parties walked out of the Rajya Sabha for the second time on Wednesday demanding a discussion on the Manipur issue besides alleging that the Leader of the Opposition was not allowed to speak in the House.
When the Upper House, which saw opposition members walk out in the pre-lunch period, reassembled at 2 pm, Union Minister for Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi moved The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2023, for consideration and passage.
The Opposition members intensified their demand for a discussion on the Manipur issue and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement in the House.
Deputy Chairman Harivansh gave the floor to Leader of Opposition Makkilarjun Kharge, who said there is a lot of unrest in the country at the moment.
At this, Harivansh asked Kharge to speak on the bill and disallowed him not to raise the issue, following which the opposition members walked out.
"Only BJP, No LoP (leader of the opposition) is the Modi government's strategy in the Rajya Sabha. This afternoon too Kharge-ji was not allowed to speak. He was not allowed to say why it's important that the PM make a statement to the House on Manipur, followed by a discussion. INDIA (alliance) parties walked out in protest," the Congress' chief whip in Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter after staging the walkout.
In the morning, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar categorically said he cannot issue a directive to the prime minister to come to the House as opposition leaders pressed for a statement by Narendra Modi on the Manipur issue.
Opposition leaders, who have been demanding a discussion on the ethnic violence in Manipur under Rule 267 of Rajya Sabha, later staged a walkout in protest. Rule 267 allows for the suspension of the listed business for the day to discuss an issue suggested by a member.
—PTI