Parliament Budget session highlights: Adani issue rocks Parliament, Oppn demands JPC probe

Parliament Budget session highlights: Lok Sabha proceedings on Monday were adjourned for the day following protests by opposition parties demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe into the allegations of fraud and stock manipulation by a short-seller against the Adani Group.

As soon as the House met after the weekend break, opposition members primarily Congress MPs came to the Well shouting slogans such as "Adani sarkar shame-shame" and demanding a probe into the tanking of the Adani Group shares and into the business practices of the corporate giant. Speaker Om Birla urged them to go back to their seats and participate in the debate.

"This is not good. Sloganeering is against the dignity of the House. People have elected you to raise their issues in Parliament but you are not interested in participating in debate," he said. Birla said the opposition members should come to his chamber and discuss with him their demands. He assured them that he would give the Opposition enough time to raise their issues in the House.

"This is Parliament. Maintain some dignity. This is a respected House. The House is for debate and discussions. The way you are disrupting the house is not good," he said. The Speaker told the opposition members that slogan shouting is not a good practice and also not good for the country. "Have people elected you for sloganeering in Parliament. You have ruled this country for a long time. Such behaviour is not good on your part. You are not interested in allowing the House to function properly,? he said.

However, the Opposition ignored his pleas and continued their protests and slogan-shouting, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House till 2 pm. TMC members were also on their feet but protested from their respective seats. After the House resumed after 2 pm, the opposition parties continued their protests.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi requested them to calm down and allow the tradition of discussing the President's address. "I request you to let the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address be allowed to take place as it is part of Parliamentary convention. Whatever you want to say you can say during the debate and the government will reply," said Joshi.

He also said that the government's stand has been stated by the finance minister and is in public domain. Adani Group stocks have taken a beating on the bourses after the US short-seller Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations last fortnight in its report, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation at the Gautam Adani-led group, which has denied the charges.

The market losses of the Adani Group have risen to nearly USD 103 billion (about Rs 8.5 lakh crore). The rout in Adani group stocks has threatened the value of investments made by the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and public sector banks.

(PTI Inputs)

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