Lok Sabha adjourned till 5 pm amid uproar over Nishikant Dubey’s remarks against Gandhi family

Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 5 pm on Wednesday following an uproar over remarks by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey targeting the Gandhi family.

As the House re-assembled at 2 pm, TDP MP Harish Balayogi resumed his address on the motion of thanks on the President's address. After Balayogi, Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was on the Chair, called on Dubey to speak.

Dubey said while Rahul Gandhi wants to speak about an unpublished book, he has brought a series of books to expose the Gandhi family. As Dubey kept listing books and what they said about various members of the Gandhi family, Tenneti said he cannot allow this as the Speaker had already given a ruling, disallowing such comments.

Tenneti cited Rule 349 to not make such remarks. Rule 349 bars members from reading from any book, newspaper or letter except in connection with the business of the House.

As opposition members strongly protested and with Dubey unrelenting, Tenneti adjourned the House till 5 pm.

Earlier, Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm following vociferous protests by Opposition members over certain issues related to the unpublished "memoir" of former Army chief M M Naravane.

As soon as the House re-assembled at 12 noon, opposition members were on their feet raising slogans against the government over the issue of stand-off with China in 2020. Amid the din, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla allowed laying of parliamentary papers on the table of the House.

Later, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal made a statement on the India-US trade agreement. Congress members had brought banners and posters featuring the former Army chief and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, while Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi was seen flashing a book in the House.

Amid the sloganeering, the Speaker urged members to maintain dignity of the House and slammed the opposition members for displaying banners and posters in the Lok Sabha. As the opposition members were unrelenting, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.

Before that, the House witnessed similar protests during the Question Hour. Amid the protests, Birla said members should be allowed to ask questions and that everyone should respect the proceedings as well as maintain decorum in the House.

One question and its supplementaries were taken up during the Question Hour that lasted for around five minutes. As the din continued, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings till 12 noon.

On Tuesday, eight Opposition members, including seven from the Congress and one from the CPI-M, were suspended for the remainder of the Budget session for unruly behaviour. Since Monday afternoon, the House has been witnessing uproar after Gandhi was disallowed from quoting an article that cited an unpublished "memoir" of Naravane on the 2020 India-China conflict.