Lok Sabha adjourned till 12 noon amid opposition protest over LPG shortage

Amid sloganeering by Opposition members, Speaker Om Birla intervened and adjourned the proceedings.

Adjourning the House, Birla criticised the disruption and urged members to maintain parliamentary decorum. “It is everyone’s responsibility to uphold the sanctity, decorum, and dignity of the House; yet, through the kind of misconduct you are currently engaging in, you are destroying that very sanctity,” he said.

The Speaker added that if members did not wish to allow Question Hour to proceed and instead deliberately disrupted proceedings, the House would have to be adjourned till noon.Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), along with other opposition MPs, staged a protest at Makar Dwar on the Parliament premises over the shortage of LPG cylinders across the country on Thursday. The protesters reportedly shouted “LPG, LPG” to highlight the crisis. Additionally, some opposition MPs raised concerns regarding Indian nationals stranded in Middle Eastern countries, chanting the slogan, “Qatar main Khade Hindustan, Modi Ghume Cheen Japan.”

Congress MP Jebi Mather said, “Just by saying there’s no scarcity, how will it be just not scarcity?… Union Minister Mr Puri is trying to portray that nothing is wrong here…We have to acknowledge there is a crisis. Then we have to find out ways to address the crisis…That is what Rahul Gandhi attempted to do in parliament yesterday, but he was stopped from not allowing him to complete. Let us acknowledge and let us find out ways, but this government is turning its back on the realities” Meanwhile, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh claimed that the Modi government is “clearly afraid” of a discussion in both Houses of the Parliament on the situation in West Asia and its impact on India.”The Opposition is demanding a discussion in both Houses of Parliament on the situation in West Asia and its impacts on India. But the Modi Govt is adamantly refusing to allow such a debate. It is clearly afraid. Its foreign policy already stands brutally exposed,” the Congress MP said on social media. The Opposition has been pushing for a discussion on West Asia in Parliament. Led by Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress leaders also staged their protests in the Parliament premises over the LPG issue.

However, the centre in the parliament said that domestic LPG production has increased by about 25 percent and the entire domestic LPG production is being directed towards household consumers. The government said that for non-domestic LPG, priority is being given to essential sectors such as hospitals and educational institutions.
Additionally, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, informed the Lok Sabha and said that India’s crude supply remains secure despite the fact that 45 per cent of imports previously transited the affected route. He noted that “Non-Hormuz sourcing has risen to approximately 70 per cent of crude imports, up from 55 per cent before the conflict began”.