Opposition parties, led by the Congress, walked out of the Rajya Sabha on Monday morning after their notices for discussions on issues such as delimitation, duplicate voter ID cards, and US President Donald Trump’s statement on funding for voter turnout in India were declined by Deputy Chairman Harivansh. As the Budget session resumed in the morning, Harivansh presided over the proceedings in the Upper House in the absence of Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, who was admitted to AIIMS a day earlier owing to chest pain. MPs from various Opposition parties—including the DMK’s P Wilson, the TMC’s Saket Gokhale and Sagarika Ghose, and the Congress’s Ajay Maken and Pramod Tiwari—raised 12 adjournment motions under Rule 267, as the chair noted, on issues including stock market losses. When the notices were declined, chaos ensued and the Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge rose to address some of the issues. However, Union minister J P Nadda, as the Leader of the House, reiterated that the government was open to discuss any issue as long as they complied with the rules. “There are some rules, some laws under which debates take place in Parliament, but the Opposition should first read the law and learn to discuss it. I suggest that a refresher course be conducted for Opposition MPs, including the Leader of the Opposition. The government led by the prime minister is ready for every kind of discussion,” he said. AAP MP Sanjay Singh submitted a suspension-of-business notice in the Rajya Sabha under Rule 267, demanding a discussion on the losses suffered by retail investors due to the sharp fall in the stock market and the effectiveness of the regulatory mechanism. DMK MP Tiruchi Siva raised a suspension-of-business notice in the Rajya Sabha to discuss the critical concerns surrounding the upcoming delimitation exercise, particularly its impact on India’s federal structure and its effects on the southern states’ fair representation. Both the Houses were adjourned until March 10 after the Joint Parliamentary Committee report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was tabled in Parliament. Additionally, they completed discussions on the Union Budget, with Sitharaman addressing the debates. As per the listed business in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai—on behalf of Union Home Minister Amit Shah—submitted documents, including a proclamation issued by the President on February 13, 2025, under Article 356 of the Constitution concerning Manipur, as per Clause (3) of the article.
