The ruckus in the lower house of the parliament started at around 1:06 pm.
New Delhi:
Opposition leaders in the Lok Sabha today protested in the well of the House, claiming BJP member Chandra Prakash Joshi glorified the abolished practice of ‘sati’. Amid loud protests, Speaker Om Birla briefly adjourned the house to check the records and ease the situation. Mr Joshi is the MP from Chittorgarh in Rajasthan.
Mr Joshi had initiated the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address when he made reference to Padmavati, the Queen of Mewar, who is believed to have self-immolated to protect her honour from invader Allaudin Khilji.
Opposition members Supriya Sule from NCP, DMK’s Kanimozhi, Dayanidhi Maran, and A Raja, K Muraleedharan from Congress, and Imtiaz Jaleel (AIMIM) were on their feet claiming that Mr Joshi had glorified the practice of ‘sati’.
CP Joshi asserted that he had not made any reference to the practice of sati, but mentioned that Padmavati had performed ‘jauhar‘ (self-immolation) to protect her honour.
“I stand by my words,” he said, as opposition members raised slogans in the well of the House.
The ruckus in the lower house of the parliament started at around 1:06 pm, when opposition MPs rushed towards treasury benches claiming Mr Joshi had made objectionable remarks. The house was adjourned till 1:30 pm.
Earlier, both houses of the parliament were adjourned for three consecutive days after protests from opposition parties demanding a discussion on alleged frauds in investment by public sector institutions like LIC and SBI, causing loss in market value. All opposition parties, except AAP and BRS, had agreed to let the debate on Motion of Thanks on President’s Address to be held today, after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal held meetings with floor leaders of opposition parties to end the logjam.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Monday said that the opposition is ready to allow the Motion of Thanks, but the “first priority” is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi give a reply on the ongoing Hindenburg-Adani row.