Running away from discussion in Parliament on price rise, GST hike 'unparliamentary': Rahul targets Modi govt

Parliament proceedings took a hit for the second day on Tuesday as the Opposition insisted on an immediate discussion on price rise and other issues with top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacking the government, saying that it is "unparliamentary" on the part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to not answer questions and run away from a discussion in Parliament.

Before the Parliament proceedings started, Congress and other Opposition parties staged a protest near Gandhi statue in Parliament House.

It was trouble for the word go in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The morning session was washed away in both the Houses while when it reconvened at 2 PM, the protests continued leading to adjournment for the day.

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Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in the morning appealed to the opposition members to go to their seats and said carrying of placards inside the House is against Parliamentary Rules.

"You carry the Rule Book but don't follow the rules. The rules prohibit carrying placards here but you are carrying them. You raise farmers' issues outside the House but not inside. You raise the issue of price rise outside the House but not inside. In the last session, you did not participate in the debate on price rise. This is not good," Birla said before adjourning the House till 2 pm.

In Rajya Sabha in the afternoon, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar managed to introduce the The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022. However, a discussion could not take place due to the Opposition protest.

Rahul tweeted, "The rupee crossed Rs 80. The gas cylinder man is asking for Rs 1,000. There are 1.3 crore unemployed people in June. Now the GST burden on food grains too. No one can stop us from raising public issues, the government will have to answer. Running away from discussion and questions in Parliament is most 'unparliamentary', Prime Minister-ji," he said.

Calling the government "extortionist", Rahul wrote in a Facebook post, "no matter how much the Prime Minister tries to silence us by terming many words as "unparliamentary", he will have to answer."