Very little business could be conducted in both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday as the government refused to give in to the Opposition’s demand for a discussion on the allegations of bribery and fraud against the Adani group in the US, the Manipur situation and the Sambhal violence.

Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha followed near-identical trajectories, with the Opposition submitting adjournment notices to discuss the issues and the presiding officers turning them down. The standoff resulted in the two Houses adjourning for the day in the pre-noon lunch session itself.

In the Rajya Sabha, only the papers listed for the day could be tabled. Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar first adjourned the House for a short duration soon after it convened in the morning and then called it a day when the Opposition showed no sign of relenting. However, the division in Opposition ranks was evident with the Trinamool
members raising the Manipur issue and not joining the INDIA bloc MPs in raising the US department of justice allegations against the Adani group.

After the reverses suffered by the INDIA bloc in Maharashtra, Trinamool has made it clear that the Adani issue is not a priority for the party. On Wednesday, amid the INDIA bloc clamour for a JPC on the alleged irregularities by the Adani group, Trinamool MPs raised the Manipur issue while the Samajwadi Party drew attention to the Sambhal violence.

In the Lok Sabha, Congress members stood up on their seats and shouted “Adani, Adani” while Samajwadi MPs trooped into the Well demanding justice for those killed in the violence in Sambhal. “Faansi do faansi do, Sambhal ke hatyaron ko faansi do (Hang those responsible for the killings in Sambhal),” the SP members shouted.

Raising the Adani issue after the Lok Sabha was adjourned, Rahul Gandhi iterated his demand for the arrest of industrialist Gautam Adani.

“You think Adani is going to accept the charges? Obviously he is going to deny the charges. The point is that he has to be arrested. Hundreds of people are being arrested on tiny charges and the gentleman has been indicted in the US for thousands of crores, he should be in jail and the government is protecting him,” Rahul told reporters on the Parliament premises.

Waqf panel extension

The government on Wednesday yielded to the Opposition demand for more time to the JPC scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024.

The revised list of business for Thursday includes a motion to be moved by JPC chairman Jagdambika Pal to extend the time for the presentation of the panel’s report till the last date of the budget session in 2025. Set up in the monsoon session, the JPC was mandated to submit its report in the first week of the winter session.

Wednesday’s JPC meeting was also stormy as the Opposition protested the selection of people and organisations who made submissions before the panel. Several states, including Delhi, have not been called by the panel, Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee told reporters.

Asaduddin Owaisi of the AIMIM said not every stakeholder had been allowed to be present before the committee, adding that the procedure was flawed.