Opposition parties to disrupt Parliament today

Opposition parties, following a meeting at the chamber of Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, in the parliament building today, decided to raise the demand for discussion on the report by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research on Adani Group companies, and a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe in both the houses, sources said.

They decided to not allow any other business in the parliament, sources further said. Discussion on Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address is scheduled to be taken up in both houses today.

Parties that were present in Mr Kharge’s chamber for the opposition meeting to chalk out a strategy on allegations of fraud against the Adani Group, which has tanked the stock market, included Congress, MK Stalin’s DMK, Sharad Pawar-led NCP, K Chandrashekar Rao’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi, Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), Samajwadi Party, CPI(M), CPI, Kerala Congress (Jose Mani), JMM, RLD, RSP, AAP, IUML, RJD, and Shiv Sena.

The government, however, has insisted that the Opposition should allow the customary “Motion of Thanks” to the President. “Passage of the resolution thanking the President for her address to the joint sitting of the two Houses is a priority,” Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal had said.

On Friday, both parliament houses were adjourned without any work as opposition parties remained firm on a call for a discussion and an investigation into allegations of fraud against the Adani Group.