Rajya Sabha on Tuesday did not transact any substantial business as the Opposition insisted on an immediate discussion on the Delhi communal clashes over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, leading to its adjournment.
When the House re-assembled at 3 PM after two adjournments earlier, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said it would appear strange if the Parliament did not discuss the incidents of violence in Delhi when the whole world was talking about it and it would be like a "non-event" if it is discussed a week later.
Leader of the House Thawar Chand Gehlot then said the government is ready for a discussion on the issue at a timing ascertained by Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu. However, Opposition MPs were not satisfied and continued to raise slogans and the House was then adjourned for the day.
Rajya Sabha started its proceedings with an adjournment within three minutes of its assembling at 11 AM, as Opposition MPs and Treasury benches locked horns. The former raised slogans when Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur, who stoked controversy for egging party supporters to chant "shoot the traitors" during Delhi Assembly election campaign, was called to lay official papers related to Ministry of Finance.
Thakur had courted controversy during the campaigning for Delhi Assembly elections when he egged on party supporters to chant "shoot the traitors" slogan. He was removed by the Election Commission from BJP's star campaigners' list and banned him from campaigning for 72 hours.
Opposition MPs were on their feet protesting against Thakur, which led to acrimonious exchanges between the Treasury Benches and their opponents. Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said this was the reason why he was not immediately allowing a discussion on the situation in Delhi, which witnessed the worst communal riots in three decades that claimed at least 42 lives, and adjourned the House till 2 PM.
It was again adjourned soon after the House re-assembled at 2 PM. As Congress Deputy Leader Anand Sharma raised a point of order, Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh said they were ready to discuss the issue as per the directions of Naidu regarding time slot.
Azad the said it was a "very serious issue. Now if the situation is normal then let us discuss the issue here or the government should tell us that the situation is not normal...." But before he could conclude, the House was adjourned till 3 PM.
When the House re-assembled, Azad said the discussion should aim towards ensuring that such an incident does not recur in the country and that Opposition parties would act responsibly and not fuel tensions further.
Bhupendra Chaubey of the BJP said the Chair should not be forced to hold the discussion at a particular time and the decision of when to hold the discussion should be left to the Chair's discretion.