Parliament Winter Session: Lok Sabha adjourned till 12.30 pm

NEW DELHI: Within minutes the proceedings reconvened after being adjourned till noon, Lok Sabha was adjourned till 12.30 pm on Tuesday amid sloganeering from the opposition members. The opposition members holding placards raised slogans against the Centre. Rajendra Agrawal, who was on the Chair urged opposition MPs to not show placards and adjourned the House till 12.30 pm.

Earlier in the day, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourned the Lower House till noon following a ruckus by Opposition MPs over the Parliament security breach incident and the bulk suspensions of the fellow members. Birla urged members to take their seats and let the Question Hour run smoothly.

"Question Hour is important. You will be given a chance to discuss every topic and issue. This House is yours. It is the collective responsibility of all of us to maintain the dignity of the House. The House is governed by certain rules and I urge you to abide by them. Take your seats (and) let the Question Hour continue," the Speaker was heard urging the Opposition members.

The Speaker added that placards inside the House are not allowed even as the Opposition members continued chanting, seemingly ignoring him.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi claimed that the Opposition members brought morphed photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi inside the House.

"The public taught them (opposition) a lesson in the recent Assembly elections. In utter desperation after the drubbing, they brought morphed images of PM Modi to disrupt proceedings in the House. I condemn this. The whole House (Lok Sabha) condemns this," Joshi said.

The Speaker later adjourned the Lower House till 12. Meanwhile, the suspended MPs of the INDIA bloc parties staged a protest in front of the Gandhi statue on Parliament premises this morning. The suspended lawmakers were joined by the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, Sonia Gandhi, as they raised slogans against the Centre.

The suspended members also protested against the government at Parliament's Makar Dwar. The protests came a day after 78 opposition MPs, on Monday, were suspended for the remainder of the ongoing 'Winter Session', for raising a ruckus and disrupting proceedings in both Houses to push for their demand for a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the Parliament security breach incident.

The suspensions, combined with the 13 members removed earlier, were the largest in the history of Indian Parliament. A total of 78 MPs -- 33 from Lok Sabha and 45 from Rajya Sabha -- were suspended on Monday, following a ruckus over the demand by the Opposition for a statement from Union Minister Amit Shah on the Parliament security breach incident, taking the total number of lawmakers suspended for the remainder of the ongoing Winter Session to 92.

While 34 opposition Rajya Sabha MPs, including Congress' Jairam Ramesh, KC Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala were suspended for the remainder of the 'Winter Session', the 'misconduct' of 11 others was also referred to the Privileges Committee, which has been asked to give its report in three months. The members will remain suspended till a report is submitted by the panel.

The reason for the suspension of opposition MPs for the rest of the Winter Session was cited to be 'misconduct' and failure to adhere to the directions of the Chair.