New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha on Wednesday adjourned the winter session of Parliament ahead of their scheduled end, with Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu saying the House acted “below its capacity” after listing down papers and reports.
He said, “I urge all of you to reflect and introspect if this session can be different and better. I don’t want to go into detail during the session which may give me a very critical point of view.” said.
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He said that rules, regulations and procedures should be followed and added that precedent, decency and decorum should be maintained by the members in the House. He also asked the members to realize “what happened is wrong” and that “we all should work towards a constructive and positive environment for the greater interest of the country”.
Naidu then extended Christmas greetings and English New Year greetings to the MPs and also extended best wishes for Makar Sankranti, Pongal and other upcoming festivals.
The winter session turned out to be an uproar as 12 members of the opposition were suspended during the monsoon session, leading to protests both inside and outside Parliament. In addition, the opposition members also opposed the report of the Special Investigation Team on October 3, Lakhimpur Kheri violence in Uttar Pradesh and farmers’ issues.
The session also saw protests against hasty passage of bills, especially the crucial election reform bill that calls for linking of voter ID with Aadhaar card. 18 sittings were held in the winter session and key legislations like the Agriculture Law Repeal Bill and the Election Law (Amendment) Bill were passed.
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien was on Tuesday suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the remainder of the winter session for “disturbed behavior” in the House. The MP has been accused of throwing the Rajya Sabha rule book on the chair. Sasmit Patra, who was the chairman, said the TMC MP had raised a point and the deputy chairman duly replied to it.
Despite the disruption and loss of working hours, the Rajya Sabha passed several key bills related to electoral reforms and surrogacy.
Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha passed nine bills which included the Agriculture Law Repeal Bill, the Election Law (Amendment) Bill and legislation to extend the tenure of directors of the Enforcement Directorate and CBI to five years and fix supplementary demands for grants.
The government had introduced 12 bills during the session, including the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to raise the age of marriage for girls from 18 to 21 years.
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