Stormy start to Budget Session, Lok Sabha adjourned over price rise debate

New Delhi: The 42-day-long Budget Session of Parliament begins on Monday and will have 28 sittings. An all-party meeting was held ahead of the Parliament session.

During this period, Railway Minister Sadanand Gowda and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present the Narendra Modi-led NDA Government's first Railway and General Budgets on July 8 and July 10 respectively. The Economic Survey will be released on July 9. The session will end on August 14.

The issues of price rise and rail fare hike disrupted proceedings in Lok Sabha on the opening day of the Budget session on Monday with Opposition insisting on a discussion on the matter through adjournment motions.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan rejected the notices for adjournment motions but said she was ready to have special discussion under Rule 193 that does not entail voting.

Read: Budget: Narendra Modi to target record asset sales

Trouble started as soon as the Question Hour began, with members of Congress, Trinamool Congress, RJD, SP, Aam Aadmi Party and the Left trooping into the Well raising the issues of price rise and rail fare hike.

Mahajan's repeated pleas to allow the questions to be taken up went unheeded, leading to adjournment of the House for nearly 40 minutes till noon.

When the House re-assembled, similar scenes were witnessed.

Congress Deputy Leader Amarinder Singh said his party was pushing for the motion in view of the government's "failure" to check skyrocketing prices of essential commodities, including pulses and vegetables, hurting the common man.

Read: Budget 2014: Help restore higher domestic savings rate, says CII

"Why can't we have a discussion on the issue like in Rajya Sabha which suspended Question Hour to take up the discussion," Singh asked.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said the government has nothing to hide and was ready for discussion on the matter under Rule 193.

Read: Arun Jaitley to present maiden Budget amid expectations of tax sops

The Speaker observed that she would not allow adjournment motion either on price rise or rail fare hike but was ready to have a discussion under Rule 193.

As agitating members were not satisfied, the Speaker said, "So you don't want the Zero Hour also" and adjourned the House at around 1215 hours till 1400 hours.

Here are the highlights:

• All party meet called by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu begins.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives for the all party meet.
• Congress to move adjournment motion over inflation in Lok Sabha, say reports.
• “We will raise the issue of inflation through an adjournment motion in Parliament today,” says Mallikarjun Kharge of Congress.
• Inflation, prices of essential commodities will be an issue during the Budget Session, we will also raise incidents of communal violence and the demand for granting special status to Bihar, says Ali Anwar of JD(U).
• All party meet ends.
• No one raised the issue of Leader Of Opposition (LoP) in the all party meet, says Venkaiah Naidu.
• “All parties will be included in the standing committees, chairmanship will be according to rules,” says Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu.
• We are very clear that Parliament should have a meaningful discussion, says Naidu.
• Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari,Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj meet PM Narendra Modi in Parliament.
• Naidu terms as "unfortunate" Congress leader Kamal Nath's remarks against Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on issue of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.
• The Speaker will go by the rulebook. Once elected, the Speaker is above party politics, says Parliamentary Affairs Minister.
• NDA government is ready to discuss any issue raised by Opposition, assures Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu after Congress raises concerns over rising inflation.
• Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan speaks in Lok Sabha amid uproar over price rise.
• Speaker tells Opposition 'Question Hour mein kuch nahi hoga' (Nothing else can happen in the Question Hour).
• We have absolutely no difficulty, you may start the discussion (on price rise) right now: Arun Jaitley in Rajya Sabha.
• Rajya Sabha discusses price rise. Ghulam Nabi Azad says, “We're seeing rampant inflation in a couple of months of the BJP-led government.”
• Ruckus in Lok Sabha over price rise
• Lok Sabha adjourned till noon after uproar over issue of price rise and rail fare hike.
• The Lok Sabha has been adjourned till noon amid slogan-shouting, half an hour after the Narendra Modi government's first Budget Session of Parliament convened today.
• Lok Sabha adjourned again, this time till 2 pm after chaos over price rise.
• JDU's Sharad Yadav slams Government on Price Rise, says, “You are right. The hoarders are responsible for inflation. Whenever there is a crisis, a few benefit from it. Our strength is our agriculture, our farmers. They (the government) says people have to swallow a bitter pill, I see the people who toil hard (farmers) may have to swallow the bitter pill.”
• Sharad Yadav asks Rajya Sabha chair Hamid Ansari - 'Why are you setting a time limit to this discussion? Let this go on for the two days if there are many speakers.'
• BJP's Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi speaks in Rajya Sabha, says, “We must ask where have been inherited this inflation from?  I am glad that those sitting in the Opposition are concerned about rising prices. I wish they had been equally concerned when they were sitting on this side of the house.”
• Congress president Sonia Gandhi to reporters in Parliament's corridor: We should get the Leader of Opposition post. If not, we will see.

  I don't know what the BJP is afraid of. Its a mere designation-Kamal Nath on LoP issue #parliament pic.twitter.com/A4QojsFMWp

  — ANI (@ANI_news) July 7, 2014

• Arun Jaitley speaks on price rise in Rajya Sabha. Jaitley says, “The concerns of the supply side should have been addressed in the last 10 years from UPA. They must understand what situation they left the Railways. The UPA didn't take tough decisions when it needed to - even in the interim budget in February this year. 30,000 crores was the loss on passenger fare - for any public utility to run, the passengers must pay.
• Jaitley added that as soon as the prices of Onions touched Rs 25 a kilogram, the government took steps. We fixed minimum export prices for onions and potatoes. We have had bumper crops in potatoes and onions - we have no reason for prices rising other than hoarding. The government has been able to control prices -- taken steps. There is sufficient supply and there is no reason for panic.
• Congress, BSP, CPM and Trinamool Congress stage walkout in Rajya Sabha expressing dissatisfaction with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's reply on price rise.