Rahul Gandhi apology row: BJP takes fresh swipe at Congress leader, LS adjourned following sloganeering

New Delhi: New Delhi: Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Friday due to sloganeering by the Opposition and protests by the NDA members over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's "democracy-under-attack" remarks.

The remarks triggered a political slugfest, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing Gandhi of maligning India on foreign soil and seeking foreign interventions, and the Congress hitting back at the ruling party by citing instances of Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising internal politics abroad.

They maintained that Rahul will be allowed to address the House only if he apologises to the Chair, the House and the people for his insensitive comment.


This was for the fifth consecutive day that the House did not function ever since the second part of the budget session began on March 13.

As soon as the Lok Sabha assembled for the day, some Congress members trooped to the Well of the House shouting slogans and demanded that Gandhi be allowed to speak in the House.

They also demanded a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into alleged stock manipulation by the Adani Group, a business conglomerate headed by industrialist Gautam Adani.

The members of the treasury benches also raised counter-slogans from their seats, demanding an apology from Gandhi for his remarks.
The turmoil continued for about 20 minutes, with Speaker Om Birla urging the members to allow the House to function smoothly.

The protesting members ignored his pleas to calm down and the Speaker adjourned the House for the day. It will meet again on March 20.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and several other Union ministers were present in the House.

During his interactions in London, Rahul Gandhi had alleged that the structures of Indian democracy are under attack and there is a "full-scale assault" on the country's institutions.

Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha was also adjourned till March 20 on Friday, minutes after the House was convened as the Opposition and ruling party members created an uproar.

Soon after the listing of papers, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said he had received 11 adjournment notices under Rule 267, but disallowed those. "After carefully going through the issues, the notices, I find, cannot be allowed," he said.