india

Updated: Mar 20, 2018 14:04 IST

Parliament could not transact business on Tuesday too as opposition parties continued to stall proceedings, resulting in a washout of the second part of the budget session for 12 consecutive days.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan disallowed for the third time no-confidence motions against the government, citing a disorderly House.

Amid din, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj announced in the Rajya Sabha that all the 39 Indians who were kidnapped in Iraq are dead. Minister of state for external affairs, General VK Singh, will go to Iraq to bring back mortal remains, the minister said.

Swaraj, however, couldn’t make a statement in the Lok Sabha as loud slogans were shouted by the opposition members when she sought the Speaker’s permission to speak on the issue. The House was adjourned till Wednesday.

Here are the highlights:

12. 14pm: Lok Sabha has been adjourned for the day.

12.12pm: The country has never seen such a sorry state, this is not proper. You are insensitive for your own people: Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, adjourns the House saying, House is not in order and so no-confidence motion cannot be moved.’

12.11pm: This is not proper, do not be so insensitive, please do not indulge in such politics, Speaker asks MPs shouting slogans when the Union minister wanted to deliver a statement on death of 39 Indians in Iraq’s Mosul.

12.09pm: As loud slogans raised by the Opposition as Union minister Sushma Swaraj seeks permission from Lok Sabha Speaker to deliver statement on death of 39 Indians in Iraq’s Mosul, says, ‘It is something sad that I want to tell the house and it cannot be done in this ruckus.’

12.05pm: External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj speaks in the Lok Sabha amid sloganeering by MPs.

11.51am:

TDP MPs protest in Parliament premises, demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh. MP Naramalli Sivaprasad joined the protest dressed up as a school boy, wearing shorts & carrying a notebook. #Delhi pic.twitter.com/irXDCaj9vG — ANI (@ANI) March 20, 2018

11.35am: TRS MPs protest on the Parliament premises, carrying placards saying ‘One nation, One law’, demanding an increase in the quota of reservation in Telangana.

11.24am: Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till Wednesday amid protest by AIADMK and DMK members.

11.17am: Thirty-one of those killed in Iraq were from Punjab, four from Himachal, says the minister.

11.16am: Minister of state for external affairs, General VK Singh, will go to Iraq to bring back mortal remains of the Indians killed in Iraq. The plane carrying mortal remains will first go to Amritsar, then to Patna and then to Kolkata, says the Union minister in the Rajya Sabha.

11.13am: It was too difficult to search our people in Iraq, thanks to VK Singh for his support, and the Iraq for the help, says Swaraj.

11.11am: Yesterday we got information that DNA samples of 38 people have matched and DNA of the 39th person has matched 70%, says Swaraj in the Rajya Sabha.

11.10am: Deep penetration radar confirmed that all Indians were dead after all bodies were exhumed, says minister Sushma Swaraj.

11.08am: Mortal remains were sent to Baghdad. For verification of bodies, DNA samples of relatives were sent there, four state governments, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar were involved: Swaraj

11.05am: All the 39 Indians who were kidnapped in Iraq have died, says Swaraj. The bodies were exhumed from a mount in Badoosh in Iraq, she says.

11.03pm: External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj speaks in the Rajya Sabha.

11.02am: Lok Sabha has been adjourned till noon after chants of ‘we want justice’ echoed in the House, as soon as proceedings began.

10.41am: I will speak to leaders of all parties to seek support for Andhra Pradesh and the no-confidence motion. Three parties are trying to divert the issue, BJP, YSRCP & Jana Sena have a single point agenda to malign TDP, Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu told party members during a teleconference, reports ANI.

10.30am: Opposition parties hold a meeting in Parliament premises and decide to meet RajyaSabha chairperson to convey that they want the House to run and the government should reach out to the opposition, reports ANI.

10.20am: Telugu Desam Party MP Thota Narasimham says they will give a no-confidence motion notice in the Lok Sabha. “We are going to continue protesting until our demands are met,” he says.

9.45am: YV Subba Reddy of the YSR Congress Party says they request the Speaker to allow our no-confidence motion. “As long as the Budget Session continues, we will press for discussion to take place on no-confidence motion. Ruckus has been happening in the House for past 15 days but the Finance Bill was passed.”

Push for trust vote

Andhra Pradesh’s ruling Telugu Desam Party and opposition YSR Congress are pushing for separate no-confidence motions against the government. Both parties demand a special category status for Andhra Pradesh. The government has said it can’t provide such a status under the constitutional framework, but pledged all help to the state.

The NDA has a clear majority in the Lok Sabha and there is no chance of the no-confidence motion going through, but analysts say the government seems eager to avoid the discussion that such a motion would entail in the house.

Several opposition parties including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Samajwadi Party, the AIMIM and Rashtriya Janata Dal have expressed their support for the notices.

CM Naidu’s message

Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu has asked TDP MPs and senior leaders to impress upon other opposition parties the need to bring in the no-confidence motion against the Modi government.

The TDP chief reviewed the happenings in Parliament during a teleconference with his party MPs and senior leaders and apprehended that the Centre might get the session adjourned sine die by creating a din through other parties.

He sought to know why the party MPs and leaders were not taking up discussion on the no trust motion.

(With agency inputs)