DMK MPs wear slogan-bearing T-shirts, prompting objections from the Chair; opposition parties rally behind them as Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha face repeated adjournments.
New Delhi: The proceedings of both Houses of the Parliament on Thursday were adjourned for the day as some DMK members entered the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha wearing T-shirts with the slogans "Delimitation -- Tamil Nadu will fight, Tamil Nadu will win", referring to the issue of delimitation of parliamentary and Assembly constituencies, written on them.
The DMK MPs attended Parliament wearing t-shirts with slogans to protest over the issue of delimitation, which was objected to by the Chairs in both Houses. Other Opposition parties rallied behind the DMK MPs and stressed that the rules of Parliament do not dictate any dress code for the members.
Meanwhile, according to sources, the BJP has issued a three-line whip for all Lok Sabha MPs and asked them to be present in the House on Friday for the "guillotining” of the Budget 2025 proposals.
In the Rajya Sabha, soon after laying the papers and some reports of the parliamentary standing committees, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar adjourned the proceedings for an hour till 12 noon and called a meeting of floor leaders of various parties at 11.30 am.
"I will be calling a meeting of floor leaders in my chambers at 11.30 am today. I would share with the members what I have seen in the House a while ago," he said soon after listed papers were laid on the floor of the House.
While Mr Dhankhar did not cite any reason for the adjournment, the issue of DMK members wearing T-shirts with slogans written on them was objected to by the Chairman.
Some of the DMK MPs attended the House proceedings wearing T-shirts with the slogan. Some of them also donned stoles that played upon Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan's remarks on DMK MPs' protest in Lok Sabha against the three-language formula of National Education Policy (NEP) and had the word "uncivilised" written on it, with the first two alphabets "U" and "N" having been crossed.
As the deadlock over the issue continued, when the House reassembled at noon, the deputy Chairman Harivansh announced that the proceedings had been adjourned again for another 15 minutes till 12.15 pm, which was further adjourned till 2 pm.
When the Upper House reconvened at 2 pm, the deputy Chairman announced that the House stood adjourned for the day.
During the meeting with floor leaders of various parties, the Rajya Sabha Chairman sought their cooperation and urged the DMK members not to wear T-shirts that were against the rules. However, the DMK members were unrelenting and did not budge.
The floor leaders of various parties assured the chairman that they were in favour of the smooth functioning of the House.
The DMK MPs, however, said the government had failed to explain the issue of delimitation, which might lead to the representation of the southern states going down. They also refused to change the T-shirts and said they were ready to be suspended if the Chairman wanted to take action against them.
According to sources, an Opposition leader said that Mr Dhankhar quoted a precedent from 1985 and said then Chairman and vice-president R. Venkatraman had barred MPs from wearing badges.
The Opposition MPs, however, countered the Chairman and said the BJP leaders have also come to the House wearing their party symbol. One Opposition MP said the BJP leaders raise slogans like "Jai Shri Ram", to which the Chair has never objected and questioned if other MPs can also raise slogans related to their religions.
Seeking to avoid any uproar in the House over the issue, the Chairman announced the adjournment of the House for the day.
In the Lok Sabha, the House witnessed repeated adjournments as several members came in wearing T-shirts with the same slogan on "delimitation”.
Objecting to the DMK members wearing T-shirts with slogans, Speaker Om Birla said such actions were against the rules of procedure of the House.
"The House functions with rules and procedures. Members have to maintain the dignity and honour of the House. But some MPs are not following the rules and violating dignity, which is not acceptable," Mr Birla said, citing Rule 349 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the House of the People.
The Speaker directed those members, who came wearing T-shirts with slogans written on them, to go out of the House and come back wearing proper dresses.
Mr Birla adjourned the proceedings till 12 pm. Similar scenes were witnessed when the House reconvened at 12 noon and TDP member Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was in the chair, adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.
Mr Tenneti also cited rules and said the behaviour of members was unacceptable.
The proceedings of the House were adjourned for the day after it was reconvened at 2 pm when the DMK members tried to raise the issue of delimitation in the Lok Sabha, but the Speaker had rejected their pleas, contending that the issue is nowhere on the government radar as the census of population was yet to be conducted.
