Presidential polls: Lok Sabha adjourned till 2 PM today
Jul 18, 2022
New Delhi [India], July 18 : Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 2 PM on Monday as the voting for the Presidential election is taking place on Parliament premises.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said the House proceedings will resume afterwards.
Prior to this adjournment, Om Birla paid tributes to former United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and former Kenya President Mwai Kibaki. Birla also paid tribute to former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe during the session.
Also, proceedings in Rajya Sabha have been adjourned for the day as Opposition MPs protested and walked up to the Well of the House over inflation and GST rate hikes. Members demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should come to the House and reply to the issues concerned. The House will meet tomorrow, on July 19 at 11 AM.
The session began with the voting for the President of India. The results of the election will be declared on July 21.
Draupadi Murmu is the NDA candidate, who is contesting against Yashwant Sinha, supported by the Opposition parties.
A polling booth has been set up inside the Parliament premises where Members of Parliament will cast their votes. The Rajya Sabha's Secretary General is the Returning Officer for this election.
The President is elected by members of the Electoral College consisting of elected Members of Parliament and that of all the state Assemblies, including the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
During the session, the Centre is likely to announce 32 Bills, including the Cantonment Bill and the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Bill. Of these, 8 Bills are pending before both Houses.
The Opposition is expected to raise issues like price rise, rising fuel prices, the Agnipath scheme, unemployment and the fall of the Rupee against the Dollar.
Meanwhile, Union Parliament Affairs Ministry convened an all-party meet, chaired by Rajnath Singh, on Sunday to ensure a smooth session.
While the Centre said it is ready to discuss all important issues, the Opposition said the session is very short and the House may not be able to take up the 32 Bills listed by the Centre. There will be 18 sittings during the session, including the private members' business on four Fridays. The session will end on August 12.
