RS adjourned again, Rajnath to address Citizenship Amendment Bill

Amid protests by the opposition members over the extension of the Rajya Sabha's sitting by one day without consulting them, the House was adjourned for the second time till 2 pm on Wednesday.

The House was adjourned earlier too and resumed at 12 noon to take up the proceedings, but the protesting members did not heed to the repeated pleas of Deputy Chairman Harivansh Singh to let the House function smoothly.

The Upper House is scheduled to take up the Bill, seeking 10 per cent quota for the poor among the general category in government jobs and academic institutions, for consideration and passing. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday night.

Before the adjournment of the House, Congress leader Anand Sharma attacked the BJP government, saying that the quota Bill and the Triple Talaq Bill are being introduced now because of the coming Lok Sabha elections.

"The way the House proceedings were extended without the consent of the opposition parties was not right. The situation now is such that there is no dialogue between the opposition and the government. The government is foremost responsible if the Rajya Sabha doesn't function," he said.

CPI Member D Raja also asked the Centre to send the quota Bill to the Select Committee of Parliament.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel, however, said the government wants to extend the sitting of the Rajya Sabha by a day as there are important bills to be considered and passed.

He assured the House that Home Minister Rajnath Singh would address all the issues related to the Citizenship Amendment Bill at 2 pm. The northeast states witnessed huge protests after the passing of the Bill in the Lok Sabha.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also responded to the opposition's protest and said: "The country expects the House to function. As per the norm, we should have been working on most of them. We are only to consider legislation."

The House, which has not been functioning properly due to disruptions caused by opposition parties, has a number of key legislations for consideration and approval including the Triple Talaq Bill.

The government has already made one bid to get the triple Talaq Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha, but a united opposition scuttled the move, insisting on sending the Bill to the Select Committee for thorough scrutiny.