Lok Sabha Budget Debate Erupts in Chaos: Treasury and Opposition Clash Over Budget Criticisms

During the discussion on the Budget, the Lok Sabha witnessed a major fracas between Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi and BJP’s Ravneet Singh Bittu. Amid the heated debate between the Treasury and the Opposition Benches, BJP member Sandhya Ray, who was in the chair, adjourned the proceedings of the House for the first time around 1.30 pm for about 30 minutes.

When the House reassembled at 2 pm, there was more drama as TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee tried to sit next to defence minister Rajanth Singh. The defence minister virtually stopped the TMC MP from doing so.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned twice on Thursday. In a debate on the Union Budget, Mr Channi referred to the assassination of Mr Bittu's grandfather, former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh. Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Mr Bittu quit the Congress to join the BJP.
Mr Bittu, who is serving as the minister of state in the Modi Cabinet, countered by making certain personal remarks against Mr Channi and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, triggering an uproar.

Amid the angry exchange of words, Congress MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring tried to enter the Well of the House but was stopped by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi. From the Treasury Benches, Mr Bittu also tried to enter the Well.
Amid the ruckus, Ms Ray, who was in the chair, adjourned the proceedings for 30 minutes till 2 pm. When the House reconvened, Mr Singh urged Speaker Om Birla to remove any unparliamentary references and continue with the debate.
Mr Birla also directed the Treasury and the Opposition members to maintain the dignity of the House, adding that ministers especially should not break the rules.
Mr Channi then proceeded to conclude his speech. He mentioned the meeting of Nr Gandhi with some farmer leaders on Wednesday, adding that they had also sought time to meet the Prime Minister. He also accused the government of not keeping its promises to the farmers.
Commerce minister Piyush Goyal intervened and accused Mr Channi of misleading the House, saying he should authenticate his allegations.

Mr Channi accused the members of the ruling party of obstructing his speech and alleged that the government was overlooking farmers. He stressed that the farmers had several demands, including one for a loan waiver.
As he alleged that National Security Act (NSA) provisions were invoked against protesting farmers, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said Mr Channi should authenticate the allegations and accused him of misleading the House.
Mr Rijiju also urged the chair to move a privilege motion against Mr Channi. The war of words between the ruling and the Opposition Benches went on even after the former Punjab chief minister concluded his speech.
As NCP MP Tatkare Sunil Dattatrey started his speech, Mr Banerjee objected to a minister taking the seat next to the member.
Mr Birla clarified that seats have not been allotted yet and the minister was sitting on a seat meant for the NDA members.
Mr Banerjee then said that he will also sit on a different seat and tried to sit next to the defence minister on the Treasury Benches' side. Mr Singh was seen stopping the TMC MP from doing so. He later returned to his seat.
As the ruckus continued, Jagadambika Pal, who was then in chair, adjourned the House till 3 pm. The House resumed normal functioning after it met at 3 pm.

Later speaking outside Parliament, Mr Bittu accused Mr Channi of indulging in "anti-national" behaviour.
Mr Bittu said: "An ex-CM was behaving like an anti-national and is misleading the world through the House. Why did he do? He said NSA was imposed on farmers, while NSA has been imposed on those who were trying to divide the country and Punjab."
"An ex-CM made remarks that were aimed at dividing the country and Punjab while Mr Gandhi was sitting there. When I said on the floor that he should provide evidence, he went on the backfoot. The Congress party and INDIA bloc have been embarrassed because of him," Mr Bittu said.
During a debate in Lok Sabha without naming anyone, Mr Channi said, "This is also an emergency that a member of Parliament elected by 20-lakh people in Punjab has been detained under the National Security Act... He is unable to speak about his constituency here (in Parliament). This is also an emergency."
While Mr Channi did not name anyone, BJP leaders said that he was speaking about Amritpal Singh, who won the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha constituency by a margin of around 2-lakh votes in the general election.
He listed the lack of progress in the Sidhu Moosewala case, action against the Opposition leaders by Central agencies and alleged mistreatment of farmers, women athletes, and journalists as evidence of this. Union minister Giriraj Singh said that Mr Channi's remarks made inside Parliament were "unfortunate". "The Khalistani who assassinated former PM Indira Gandhi has received open support from Mr Channi today, which means the Congress is siding with the Khalistanis. This is an attack on the integrity of India... I will say action should be taken," Mr Singh said.
Participating in the Budget debate, Trinamul MP Saugata Roy stated that finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is not a "trained economist" and the Budget presented by her was based on notes received from the Prime Minister's Office as she has "no original ideas”.
"I do not expect the finance minister to be like Manmohan Singh...," Mr Roy said.
Mr Roy said: "You (Ms Sitharaman) have been a minister for seven years. You are not a trained economist...you have been lucky that way." Some members of the House raised voices opposing his statement.

Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav said the Budget is "political" and Uttar Pradesh has been overlooked in the budget.

Rashtriya Lok Dal leader and Union minister Jayant Choudhary, however, said Ms Sitharaman will reply to the leaders' allegations in the House.

"The finance minister will reply to it in the House. This is not the first time some states are mentioned or some schemes are mentioned. Nirmala ji is an experienced finance minister. She named some states; no one should be jealous," he said.

Mr Sitharaman on Tuesday announced significant financial measures for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, ruled by key NDA allies -- Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) and Chandrababu Naidu's TDP -- which are providing critical support to the BJP-led government at the Centre.