Govt defers bills after Opposition boycotts Parliament proceedings

Treasury benches in both the Houses on Thursday requested the Chair to defer scheduled debate and passage of bills as opposition parties had walked out in protest over price rise or ED summons to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

The Rajya Sabha will now take up the bill seeking to amend the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems Act again on Monday for discussion and passage.

Though the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022, was listed from day one of this monsoon session, a discussion on it could take place only on Thursday. However, just before the bill was moved, after lunch, the opposition demanded that price rise and inclusion of more items under Goods and Services Tax be discussed first. When the Chair did not agree, the opposition walked out.


Some non-NDA parties also took part in the bill's discussion. Those who spoke on the bill included Prashant Nanda (BJD), M Thambidurai (AIADMK), Ayodhya Rami Reddy Alla (YSRCP), Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD), K Ravindra Kumar (TDP), Ram Nath Thakur (JDU) and Prakash Javadekar (BJP). All of them supported the bill. When it was to be put to vote, minister V Muraleedharan requested Bhubaneswar Kalita who was in the Chair that the bill be passed on July 25 (Monday) so that some opposition members who were not present could speak before it was passed.

Incidentally, minister Jitender Singh made a similar request to the LS Chair when the Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022, was also taken up for passage, indicating that the requests could have been part of a government strategy.