The winter session of Parliament is headed for a near-washout as no substantial discussion or debate took place on the 20th day today. Tomorrow will be last day for winter session.
Opposition political parties continued to protest over demonetisation demanding a discussion in the House. Meanwhile, the ruling benches raised allegations of bribery in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal, claiming that some leaders in the UPA regime had received money in the deal.
Both the Houses of Parliament were adjourned for the day following continuous uproar on issues such as demonetization and plight of farmers and Agusta Westland case. As the Lok Sabha met after the first adjournment at noon, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said his party is ready for discussion on demonetization immediately. TMC leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay also urged the chair to start the discussion on demonetisation without delay.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said, the opposition is not interested in discussion. Kumar said, the opposition has been stalling the functioning of the House. He alleged that some Congress leaders are involved in converting black money to white. Mr Kumar also said, the House should also discuss about the alleged Agusta Westland kickbacks.
Rajya Sabha witnessed repeated adjournments before 2 pm. When the House met this morning, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad raised the issue of the plight of farmers due to drought and demonetization. However, some of the ruling party and TMC members displayed placards which the Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien disapproved. Congress charged the ruling party with disrupting the proceedings claiming it unprecedented.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi countered the Congress allegation that it was the opposition that was holding the House to ransom. As the din persisted, the House was adjourned till noon. After the House met at noon, some treasury bench members were on their feet displaying newspaper clippings and opposition members shouting slogans.