New Delhi, Dec 5 (PTI) Trinamool Congress on Thursday alleged that members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party were being given more time to speak during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha.
Raising the issue on the floor of the Upper House, Trinamool’s Parliamentary Party leader Derek O’Brien claimed BJP members were given six minutes to speak during Zero Hour.
“We want the Chair to protect members from both sides,” O’Brien said in the post-lunch session of the House.
“We are getting used to some new rules… While Zero Hour is of three minutes, it is becoming six minutes (for BJP members),” O’Brien added.
Deputy Chairman Harivansh was in the Chair when the Trinamool leader raised the issue.
Later in a post on X, Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale accused the government of disrupting the Rajya Sabha.
“Unprecedented in Parliament today! Government itself disrupting Rajya Sabha. Time limit for Zero Hour is 3 mins. However BJP MP speaks for a full 6 mins,” Gokhale claimed in the post.
“When the opposition objects, Treasury Bench rises and disrupts the House… Modi govt intentionally disrupts Parliament for the duration when Members can raise issues. And post 2 pm, they will run the House to bulldoze Bills,” he added.
Rajya Sabha proceedings were briefly adjourned on Thursday morning due to an uproar after BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi claimed there were attacks on India’s national interest from abroad, and demanded a thorough probe into the matter.
Speaking on ‘Concerns over Suspicious and Conspicuous Attacks on National Interest from Abroad’ during Zero Hour, Trivedi cited instances where issues concerning India were raised by international entities just before or during Parliament sessions in the past three years.
His remarks sparked an uproar by the opposition parties, forcing adjournment of the House till 12 noon. PTI AO ARI
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