Parliament began its new monsoon session amid Covid-19 guidelines and precautions on Monday. Usually, Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha meet at 11 am, but with new seating arrangement it was shift wise with Lok Sabha MPs sitting in both the Houses. This new seating arrangement saw Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla taking a quip that those members who dreamt of sitting in Lok Sabha can fulfil their dream with this new arrangement.
Some new options and motions were put forward by the government in the Lok Sabha. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi moved two motions, first that no members would be allowed to stand up and speak and second, even if they wanted to protest, they have to remain seated along with no Question Hour for the ongoing monsoon session. The Opposition was quick to protest on this move to drop Question Hour in the ongoing monsoon session.
Congress, TMC and DMK were quick enough to stage their protests. Manish Tewari read out the rulebook to suggest that Question Hour is the right, while the TMC said that its glamour of the House which people of the country love to watch. Owaisi, too, protested and demanded for division on motion, but was denied from the chair.
On day one, Congress Leader in House Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary wanted to take on the government and moved adjournment motion to discuss the China issue on the floor of the House. He tried to raise, but was denied as the issues were yet to be finalised by the BAC.
On the one hand, the Opposition has been united to counter the Modi government on China and border-related issues, but the Prime Minister in the morning took the lead in supporting and standing with the armed forces of the country and wishing the same feelings and expressions from the House and members.
MPs were given numbers as per their sitting arrangement, and it was difficult for many members to find their seats as it was day one with new arrangements due to the pandemic. The Health Minister made a statement in the House informing about the present situation of Covid-19 in the country and the government’s plan for future vaccine.