Lok Sabha adjourned for the day amid protest by opposition members

Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on Monday amid continuous protests by opposition members over Pegasus snooping controversy and other issues.

As the House reconvened at 2 pm after being adjourned four times before in the day, opposition members trooped into the Well.

Rama Devi, who was in the Chair, urged the members to go back to their seats and let the discussion on COVID-19 take place.

As the protesting members were unwilling to relent, the House was adjourned for the day.

When the House met for the day in the morning, Opposition members sought to raise various issues, including the Pegasus spyware controversy and started shouting slogans following which the proceedings were adjourned till 11:30 am.

When the Question Hour resumed at 11:30 am, Opposition members trooped into Well.

Rajendra Agrawal, who was in the Chair, asked members to go back to their seats.

"Question Hour is a medium to discuss issues, please participate in this," Agrawal said.

Soon, he adjourned the House till noon.

When the House met again at noon, Agarwal, who was in the chair allowed papers related to different ministries to be tabled in the House.

Then he allowed Aayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to introduce The National Commission for Homoeopathy (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (Amendment) Bill, 2021 amidst strong opposition.

TMC member Saugata Roy said he opposed the introduction of the Homeopathy bill as it would be detrimental to the Homeopathy profession.

However, Sonowal defended the bill saying it is very important for the country and members should appreciate it.

Congress leader Manish Tewari said the introduction of bills amidst opposition protests is violation of the Constitution.

After admission of the two bills, Agarwal allowed Social Justice and Empowerment minister Virendra Kumar to introduce The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2021.

Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury strongly opposed the move and said that the entire opposition has been demanding discussion on the alleged snooping by Pegasus spyware but the government was ignoring the demand.

Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Meghwal strongly objected it, saying the government was ready for discussion on all issues.

As protests, continued, Agarwal adjourned the House till 12.30 pm.

When the House met again, the House passed The Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill 2021 and The Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2021 amidst strong opposition protests.

Both the bills were earlier passed by Rajya Sabha.

The House also passed The Constitution (Schedule Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill 2021 after a brief discussion amidst opposition protests.

Soon, the chair adjourned the House till 2 pm.

Earlier, Speaker Om Birla, on behalf of the House, paid tributes to those who had participated in the Quit India Movement. The members also stood in silence for a brief while as a mark of respect to those who took part in that movement.

The country is celebrating the 79th anniversary of the Quit India Movement that was launched in 1942 under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.

Birla also mentioned about India's performance at the just-concluded Olympic games at Tokyo and congratulated the medal winners. Members thumped their desks when the name of Neeraj Chopra, who won the gold medal in javelin throw at the Olympics, was mentioned.

While noting that winning seven medals was the best ever Olympics performance by India, Birla exuded confidence that the performance would enthuse youngsters.