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The lower House of the Parliament on Thursday passed the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address, even as proceedings were repeatedly disrupted by sloganeering from Opposition members, following which the House was adjourned till 2 pm.
Amid the Opposition's continued sloganeering, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla initiated a voice vote, after which the motion was passed without Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address in the Lower House. PM Modi was expected to reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address on Wednesday; instead, after repeated disruptions and sloganeering by the Opposition members, the Speaker adjourned the Lok Sabha. The Prime Minister is expected to speak on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address later today in the Rajya Sabha. Meanwhile, soon after the Upper House assembled on Thursday, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge raised objections, alleging that the Leader of Opposition in the "other House" was not being allowed to speak. Responding to the charge, Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha and BJP president JP Nadda said that the proceedings of the other House could not be discussed in the Lok Sabha. Kharge insisted that the Leader of Opposition in the other House wanted to "highlight the mistakes of the government" and that this was troubling the treasury benches. Countering him, Nadda said the government was ready to discuss all issues but asked Kharge not to make his party "hostage to someone who is abodh (ignorant) and has arrogance." Kharge condemned Nadda's remarks and responded with allegations that BJP members were under pressure about what they could say in Parliament. The Upper House of Parliament witnessed a heated exchange between Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and BJP leaders after the Congress MP alleged that Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha. The Opposition has been protesting against the Centre for allegedly preventing Rahul Gandhi from addressing the Lower House, citing former Army Chief General MM Naravane's unpublished memoir on the 2020 China standoff. This comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to reply in the Rajya Sabha to the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address during the ongoing discussion. Amid the ruckus in the House, the Opposition staged a walkout. Speaking to reporters at the parliament premises, Congress MP KC Venugopal said," In a parliamentary democracy, the Leader of the Opposition has a right to speak and initiate debate, which is completely denied in this House. Our single point agenda is that the LoP has to be allowed to speak..." Venugopal later added, "The real fact is that the farmers of India are very concerned about this deal (US-India trade agreement). India has been compromised with this deal." (ANI)
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