Lok Sabha deadlock continues, Finance Bill not taken up

New Delhi: The key Finance Bill 2018-19 could not be taken up in the Lok Sabha today as protests by opposition parties and the TDP over issues like bank scams and special status demand for Andhra Pradesh continued for the seventh day, disrupting proceedings in the House.

Both Question Hour and Zero Hour were washed out as scores of members from the TDP, Congress, AIADMK, TRS and Trinamool Congress trooped into the Well, forcing Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to adjourn the proceedings first for an hour.

The Lok Sabha was scheduled to take up the Finance Bill 2018-19 and Appropriation bills for FY 2017-18 and 2018-19. However, when the House reassembled at noon, the protests continued and no legislative business could be carried out. Most of the protesting members were heard shouting “we want justice”.

Members from TDP, which quit the central government last week but remains part of the ruling NDA, were demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh. They were holding placards which read ‘Follow alliance dharma’. YSR Congress was also raising the Andhra Pradesh issue.

While the Congress and the Trinamool Congress were raising the issue of scam at Punjab National Bank, the TRS sought increased reservation quota and the AIADMK wanted the government to constitute the Cauvery management board.

One of the protesting members in the Well was holding a placard which read ‘Chotta Modi kahan gaya’, referring to diamond merchant Nirav Modi, allegedly the key person behind the Rs 12,700 crore fraud at Punjab National Bank.

Some members from the Left parties, while standing at their seats, were holding some photographs. As the bedlam continued, the Speaker adjourned the proceedings for the day after the tabling of reports of various standing committees. The Lok Sabha has failed to transact substantial business on account of frequent disruptions since March 5 when the second leg of the Budget Session of Parliament commenced.