Lack of quorum forces brief halt to LS proceedings

Proceedings of the Lok Sabha were halted briefly today due to lack of quorum during debate on Budget, prompting the Congress to taunt the Treasury Benches that it is not able to muster numbers despite the majority.
CPM members A S Sampath and M B Rajesh raised the issue of lack of quorum when TDP member Jayadev Galla was speaking on the Budget at around 2.10 pm.
This prompted Leader of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge Leader to take a jibe at the BJP. "What have you achieved by getting a majority? Not even 40 members are not present in the treasury benches," he said.

Hukum Dev Narayan, who was in the Chair, halted the proceedings of the House for a brief period.
Then more members started pouring in and proceedings resumed in about 10 minutes.
BJP member Nishikant Dubey, who was among those who came to the House, said the MPs had gone for lunch.

The Lok Sabha did not have lunch break today in view of discussion on the Budget.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal was present during the discussion.
To this Sampath said, "Yes, but he (Meghwal) is just a minister. He cannot substitute for 10 members.