Rajya Sabha met for less than five minutes on Thursday and Friday

The first week of the post-recess budget session in Rajya Sabha was a complete washout with the House being adjourned on Friday till next week within minutes of the start of proceedings. Barring the tributes to two wins for Indian entries at the Oscars, no legislative work or debate has taken place in the Upper House as the Rahul Gandhi apology and Adani-Hindenburg issues led to adjournments.

On Friday, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar announced that he has received 11 notices under Rule 267 for suspension of business to discuss "government failure to form a Joint Parliamentary Committee" to look into the Adani-Hindenburg issue and "government's questionable role" in promoting business interests of the Adani Group. Opposition was on its feet the moment Dhankhar rejected the notices.

Dhankhar took cognizance of a point of order raised by Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge on events of March 13-14 in the House and directed Leader of the House Piyush Goyal to submit a report by evening.


As the protests escalated and some members walked towards the Well, Dhankhar adjourned the House till Monday morning.

This marked the washout of the whole first week since the post-recess budget session began on March 13. The Upper House had put behind the protests and acrimony on March 14 to applaud the Oscar wins for "Naatu, Naatu" song of the movie RRR for best original song and the best documentary short film award to The Elephant Whisperers. Apart from the one hour dedicated to paying tributes to the winners, the House has not functioned on these five working days.

The House met for less than five minutes on Thursday and Friday.

Incidentally, the Treasury Benches have been more vocal in their protests.