Lok Sabha adjourned amid Opposition MPs protest over NEET paper leak issue

Dhankhar bemoans Kharge entering Rajya Sabha Well

The proceedings of the Lok Sabha were adjourned for the day on Friday as the Opposition INDIA bloc demanded a discussion on the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the medical entrance exam NEET.

The Rajya Sabha took up the discussion after adjournments in the morning session, during which the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Mallikarjun Kharge entered the Well of the House along with other members of the INDIA bloc. Congress MP, Phulo Devi Netam, collapsed during the protest and was hospitalised.

Before the House was adjourned until 2 pm, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar expressed anguish over Kharge's entry into the Well, saying it is for the first time that a person occupying this post has engaged in such conduct.

 

He said the history of Parliament "will be remembered as stained when the LoP was in the Well of the House."

The Opposition demanded that the House be adjourned for the day after Netam took ill, but the chair denied it, and the House continued discussing the President's address.

According to a Trinamool Congress leader, nine MPs of the Biju Janata Dal, which is not part of the INDIA bloc, also entered the Well of the House. BJP's Sudhannshu Trivedi moved the motion of thanks.

In the Lok Sabha, Birla told the protesting INDIA bloc members that the House would first discuss the President's address. With the INDIA bloc persisting with its demand, the Speaker adjourned the House until Monday morning. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Opposition could have flagged the issue during the discussion on the President's address.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the government was ready for discussion. He pointed out that parliamentary convention mandates that a debate on the President's address takes precedence over any other issue.

The minister said the President, in her address in Parliament on Thursday, mentioned the NEET paper leak issue and the government's efforts to deal with it.

Pradhan said the Opposition MPs should use the discussion on the President's address to flag the issue. In the Rajya Sabha, Janata Dal (Secular)'s HD Deve Gowda backed the government.

In a video message, Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi said the INDIA Opposition bloc wanted to have a constructive debate with the government on the NEET exam and the paper leak issue, a serious concern that has distressed lakhs of families across the country. He had raised the paper leak issue in the Lok Sabha with the Congress, alleging that his microphone was switched off.

Disputing Vice-President Dhankhar's claim that it was a first for a LoP to enter the Well of the Rajya Sabha, Congress' Jairam Ramesh said: "Memories are short, especially when old rivals become new partners."

He pointed out that on August 5, 2019, the then LoP Ghulam Nabi Azad sat on the steps leading to the Chairman's president seat, which is part of the Well, to protest the Bills to abolish Article 370.

"I should know. I sat next to him," Ramesh said.

Later in the day, Kharge accused Dhankhar of "insulting" him by ignoring him when he wanted to speak in the Rajya Sabha, forcing him to enter the Well of the House.

The Special session concludes on July 3, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to reply to the debate on that day.