Parliament face-off continues, Rajya Sabha adjourned 10th time in six sittings amid ruckus

New Delhi [India], March 20 : The tussle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition MPs continued for the sixth day leading to the 10th adjournment of the Rajya Sabha on Monday since the second leg of the Budget Session of Parliament began.
Proceedings of the Upper House got disrupted soon after papers were laid on the table as both the treasury and Opposition benches created a ruckus on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's democracy in India remarks in London and over Adani issue.
Minutes after the Rajya Sabha Chairman read that he has received "14 notices under Rule 267, and that nine among those have been received from the Congress", the ruckus started.
Amid the din, the Chairman adjourned the House till 2 pm.
The ruling BJP members sought an apology from Gandhi over his democracy in India remarks in London and criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Meanwhile, Congress leaders also raised objections and they also started speaking against the government demanding a probe into the Adani Group by a Joint Parliamentary Committee.
The row over Gandhi's remarks in London has been reverberating in the House since March 13-- day one of the second phase of the Budget Session-- leading to continued adjournment of the House every day. This was the 10th adjournment since the second phase of the Budget Session started.
The Rajya Sabha faced adjournment for the whole day last Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday too amid pandemonium as treasury benches sought an apology from Gandhi's remarks in London on democracy in India and the Opposition objecting the matter and demanded a probe into the Adani Group by a Joint Parliamentary Committee.
From ast Monday to Thursday, the Rajya Sabha adjourned two times each day, and the House witnessed adjournment once for the day on Friday.
In a veiled attack on Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal last week raised the matter, pointing "this is the first time" that a Member of Parliament used words against the democracy of India while his visit outside the country, and sought his apology.
"He (Rahul Gandhi) should apologise...," Goyal had said.
However, the Opposition members had sought a probe into the Adani Group by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Tuesday and accused the Centre of being silent on a report by a US firm that alleged stock manipulation and accounting fraud by the group.
During his address to the British parliamentarians in London recently, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the "functioning microphones of Opposition leaders in Parliament are often silenced." He made several other allegations including on PM Modi, an 'attack on democracy', and the China issue. In Cambridge, the Congress MP again alleged that the Opposition's voice was being stifled in Parliament.