Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die on Thursday, bringing an end to a turbulent Monsoon Session marked by persistent Opposition protests, counter-demonstrations, and minimal legislative debate.
The government said that it was a successful session while the Opposition parties slammed the NDA as Union Home Minister Amit Shah failed to make a statement on alleged police excesses during the July 20 protest in New Delhi.
As Union Home Minister Amit Shah entered the Parliament, the Opposition leaders targeted him, seeking his resignation over the lathi-charge on protestors during the recent NEET-protests. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi entered the house, the national song Vande Mataram was played and sine die was announced by Speaker Om Birla.
Similarly, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die after a brief sitting. Congress members raised objections over an incident in Uttarakhand where a venue was reportedly “purified” after a rally by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, calling it an insult to their leader.
Outside the Parliament, the Congress MPs led by Pawan Khera protested with a toy monkey with a sloganeering: “56 inch ka chhota bandar, jaldi aao sadan ke andar.”
The Monsoon session was kicked off on July 20. Both the ruling and the Opposition parties have locked horns over several issues including the NEET protests and then over the missing funds in the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Speaking to reporters, Union Parliamentary Minister Kiren Rijiju claimed that it was a successful session, “We view it from two perspectives. In terms of business, it was a very successful session; we passed a total of 12 bills. However, from the perspective of debate and discussion, it was not as successful.”
He said that the Lok Sabha just achieved 19% productivity relative to the total time allotted while the productivity stood at 39% in the Rajya Sabha.
The Minister said, “While opposition parties created a ruckus and occasionally staged walkouts, the majority NDA parties and MPs from some opposition parties participated in the debates and discussions…”
He noted that one bill, addressing the issue of paper leaks and unfair means in examinations, underwent a full discussion in the Lok Sabha. Rijiju added, “The ‘Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act’ was passed during this session. This legislation was discussed in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.”
On the other hand, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge slammed the NDA government, targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.
He said, “They are not ready to come to Parliament. When the PM himself is not stepping in, when the HM is not coming in and say “main andar tha, main sun raha tha” – do you come here to sit in your room and listen? Come to the House and hear us. These people want to destroy democracy and they want to demoralise Parliament members and they feel that Parliament is nothing before them, that they are everything…People will break their ego.”