Rajya Sabha adjourned after Oppn uproar over Jantar Mantar student protest crackdown

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for almost an hour soon after it started on Wednesday following a huge uproar by the opposition over the police action against protesting students at Jantar Mantar.

The Upper House convened at 11 a.m., but proceedings were disrupted soon after when Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge raised the issue, leading to a ruckus in the House.

Chairman Radhakrishnan swiftly adjourned the sitting till noon. Before the disruption, several members laid papers on the table pertaining to different ministries.

Nityanand Rai tabled documents for the Ministry of Home Affairs, while B L Verma did so for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Bandi Sanjay Kumar also submitted papers related to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Sukanta Majumdar laid papers for the Ministry of Education, and Harsh Malhotra presented those for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Akhilesh Prasad Singh then laid the reports of the Public Accounts Committee. These included the 48th report (Eighteenth Lok Sabha) on the delay in production of the electronically upgraded 155mm/45 Calibre Gun System 'Dhanush'; the forty-ninth report on the loss of Rs 62.10 crore on replacement of defective ammunition to the Army by the 'Ordnance Factory, Badmal'; the fiftieth report on the management of defence Offsets; and the fifty-first report on non-compliance in timely submission of 'Action Taken Notes' on non-selected audit paragraphs and excess expenditure.

MP Anil Kumar Yadav Mandadi tabled the reports of the department-related Parliamentary standing committee on coal, mines and steel.

A motion for election of members to the committee on official language was also moved in the House.

The focus, however, quickly shifted to the student protests as Kharge sought to speak on the Monday incident. The resulting commotion prompted the Chairman to adjourn the proceedings, reflecting the growing tension in the Upper House over the handling of student demonstrations.

“Except for the headline, no changes have been made to the story by Education Post staff.”