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Stormy start to Union Budget session

By The Assam Tribune

NEW DELHI, July 7 � The Budget session of Parliament today got off to a stormy start with the first day in Lok Sabha being virtually washed out on the issues of price rise and rail fare hike, as a strident Opposition insisted on a discussion under an adjournment motion, reports PTI.

The House managed to take up just two questions amid uproar created by members of the Congress, Trinamool Congress, RJD, SP, Aam Aadmi Party and the Left as they trooped into the Well raising the issues of price rise and rail fare hike.

The Opposition wanted a discussion under an adjournment motion, but Speaker Sumitra Mahajan rejected it, saying a debate could be taken up under Rule 193 that does not entail voting.

While the Congress wanted a discussion on price rise, the Trinamool Congress pressed for a debate on the rail fare hike under an adjournment motion, which requires voting and amounts to censure of the government if it is passed.

The House was adjourned twice till 1400 hours before being adjourned for the day as the deadlock persisted over the Rule under which a discussion could be taken up.

Sharing concern over the price rise, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said the government was ready to discuss the matter immediately and left it to the Speaker to decide under which Rule it should be done.

Mahajan said she had rejected notices for an adjournment motion, but accepted six notices for discussion under Rule 193. She even called P Karunakaran (CPI-M) to initiate the discussion.

However, Congress and some other Opposition parties insisted that the discussion should be held under the adjournment motion.

When the House met at 1400 hours, Deputy Leader of Congress Amarinder Singh said people were starving and �food prices are rising at terrible levels...How can common man survive? We don�t want only a discussion but an answer from the government. We want voting in the House because it is an important issue�.

Congress leader Jyotir-aditya Scindia mentioned that Rajya Sabha has allowed discussion on the issue of price rise, but Mahajan said matters of the other House cannot be discussed in the Lok Sabha.

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