2 Bills passed, 1 introduced in Lok Sabha amid sloganeering by opposition parties

The government passed two bills in 22 minutes in Lok Sabha amidst sloganeering by the opposition members demanding an independent probe against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Pegasus spyware controversy.

Lok Sabha witnessed repeated adjournments from the beginning of the day as the opposition MPs entered the well as soon as the House assembled at 11 am. The House took up a few questions during the Question Hour and was adjourned till 12 noon. It was once again adjourned till 2 pm. The Centre reached out to the opposition parties, seeking cooperation to pass the bills, especially ordinance-replacing ones.

Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi held meetings with Congress MP Manish Tewari and NCP’s Supriya Sule. Home minister Amit Shah held a lunch meeting with Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla. After the House reassembled at 2 pm, the government’s intention of conducting business of the House and pushing through the bills was cleared as presiding officer Rama Devi did not adjourn the House. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the ordinance-replacing Insolvency Code (Amendment) Bill. As the sloganeering by opposition continued, Rama Devi adjourned the House till 2.45 pm. The House was again adjourned till 3 pm.

As the House met, Joshi appealed to the opposition to join discussions on the bills being introduced for consideration and passing. Following this, the government passed two bills — Factoring Regulation (amendment) Bill, and National Institutes of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management Bill.

With two bills passed and one bill introduced, the House was adjourned till 11 am on Tuesday.