New Delhi, Dec 16 (IANS): Amid continuous protests by the Opposition bench demanding dismissal of Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra, the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on Thursday. The Opposition parties demanded sacking of Union Minister Mishra after the SIT report called Lakhimpur Kheri violence as a "planned conspiracy". The House was adjourned within 12 minutes after it reassembled at 2 p.m.
When the proceedings of the lower house started at 2 p.m., BJD Member B. Mehatab, who was on the Chair, allowed the ministers and members to lay the papers in the house amid opposition protests and sloganeering. The Chair also asked the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change to introduce the Diversity (Amendment) Bill 2021 and the Bill was tabled in the House.
Meanwhile, opposition members, who were already stormed into the well, started displaying placards demanding dismissal of the minister. Mehtab tried to pacify the agitating members but they did not pay any heed to the Chair's request, following that he adjourned the house for the day.
Earlier in the day, the lower house was also adjourned within 20 minutes when it assembled at 11 a.m. amid continued tirade by the opposition against the government over Mishra. Speaker Om Birla tried to convince the agitating members to go back to their seats and let the house transact its important business.
With an aim to initiate the Question Hour, Birla approached the opposition bench and tried to convince them how and why this Question Hour was important. He also assured the opposition that they would be given a chance to raise their issue and asked Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to speak.
Rahu Gandhi said that Union Minister Mishra was responsible for the Lakhimpur Kheri incident and termed him even a criminal and demanded that the government should sack him. The Speaker interrupted him by saying that he should stick to what was listed by him for Question Hour, not other issues.
He then named other members to raise their issues. This also irked the opposition bench and they started shouting slogans in a high pitched voice.