A united Opposition in the Lok Sabha, joined by AIADMK members, on Tuesday demanded an adjournment motion for a debate on the Centre’s demonetisation move under Rule 54 that entails voting.
However, the Speaker, Sumitra Mahajan, refused to allow an adjournment motion, leading to adjournment of the House.
Carrying posters and shouting slogans, Opposition members led by the Congress, trooped to the well, demanding a debate and the Prime Minister’s presence in the House.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar told the Opposition that the Government was willing to debate every aspect of the issue, adding that BJP’s win in the by-polls in Madhya Pradesh and Assam was a proof that the people had endorsed the Government’s decision against black money and corruption.
The Opposition ranks got a boost with P Venugopal (AIADMK) also seeking an adjournment motion, and highlighting the “suffering of people due to shortage of currency notes''. So far, the AIADMK had been protesting, but the issue related to the setting up the Cauvery water board.
The Biju Janata Dal, however, chose to keep distance with the Opposition protest.
Criticising the government, Congress leader in the House, Mallikarjun Kharge, said: "Farmers are suffering, weddings are being cancelled, workers are not being paid, beedi workers are facing threat to their livelihood ,” adding that not allowing a discussion would be a “great injustice” to the people of the country.
He said the Opposition was not “running away” from the discussion, as alleged by the BJP, but wanted the Prime Minister’s presence and admission of their adjournment notice.
Equating Speaker Sumitra Mahajan with a mother “who never gets angry”, he said she should hear them out, to which Mahajan responded by saying that “a mother would want all her children to live together happily''.
The Speaker carried out most of the Question Hour amid noisy scenes before adjourning the House briefly till noon. After laying of the listed papers, she adjourned the House for the day as noisy protests continued.