Monsoon Session begins; LS adjourned till 2 pm after obituary references

On the first day of the Monsoon Session on Thursday, Lok Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm after paying tributes to two sitting members and 11 former MPs, including ex-chief minister of Punjab Parkash Singh Badal.

Immediately after the House met, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla paid tributes to sitting MPs Rattan Lal Kataria and Balubhau alias Suresh Narayan Dhanorkar.

He also said that 11 former members passed away in the last few months and read out their names.

Those who died include Badal, who was a member of the Sixth Lok Sabha, Ranjit Singh, Sujan Singh Bundela, Sandipan Thorat, Viswanadham Kanithi, Atiq Ahmad, Trilochan Kanungo, Ilyas Azmi, Anadi Charan Das, Nihal Singh and Raj Karan Singh.

Birla also paid tributes to all past members and adjourned the House till 2 pm.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were among those who were present in the House.

Earlier, Sushil Kumar Rinku, who was elected to Lok Sabha from the Jalandhar constituency in Punjab, took oath. He is now the only member of the Aam Aadmi Party in the Lower House of Parliament.