Proceedings at both Houses of Parliament were adjourned for a second day on Friday after opposition members shouted slogans demanding a probe into the ongoing stock market rout of Adani Group companies, reported The Hindu.
All the 15 adjournment notices moved by the Opposition in Rajya Sabha under Rule 267 were not accepted by Speaker Jagdeep Dhankar.
Soon after the two Houses assembled on Friday morning, the Lok Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm and Rajya Sabha proceeding was adjourned till 2:30 pm.
Opposition members remained firm on their demand for a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee or a CJI-supervised committee to look into the allegations against the Adani Group in the Hindenburg Research report.
The main Opposition party Congress is looking to up its ante against the ruling dispensation and is planning nationwide protests on Monday to highlight the risks to millions of small investors due to the exposure of state-owned LIC and public sector banks to the Adani Group companies.
Congress Party will protest in front of the offices of LIC and State Bank of India, according to a statement issued by General Secretary K C Venugopal. “The government can’t jeopardise the hard earned money of people of India to profit the crony friends of the Prime Minister”.
Earlier in the day, opposition leaders met before the Parliament session to discuss their strategy. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had in the morning tweeted, “Floor leaders of Opposition parties will be meeting at 10 am in chamber of [email protected] in Parliament House to coordinate strategy. The demand remains the same. Only an independent investigation will save LIC, SBI and other institutions FORCED by PM to invest in the Adani Group.”
A united opposition had on Thursday called for setting up of a joint parliamentary committee or a probe by team under supervision of Chief Justice of India to look into LIC and Public Sector Banks exposure to the Adani Group. Parliament was disrupted on Thursday too as opposition MPs shouted anti-Adani slogans.
Adani Group this week scrapped a Rs 20,000 crore follow-on-public offering as the billionaire—once ranked no 2 among the world’s wealthiest and now at no 21 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index—continued to battle the damning short seller attack.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will Friday brief all BJP MPs in Parliament about the finer points of the budget proposals. All BJP MPs in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are expected to attend for the briefing on the budget.
