Lok Sabha adjourned sine die; Budget session concludes

New Delhi | Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die on Friday, bringing down the curtains on the Budget session which began on January 31.

As soon as the House met at 12 noon after an adjournment over remarks by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla read out his valedictory remarks and adjourned the House sine die (indefinitely till the new session is convened).

The session concluded on a stormy note with treasury benches seeking an apology from Sonia Gandhi for her remarks that the Waqf bill was bulldozed without a discussion. This forced an adjournment for nearly an hour.

Later on the demand of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, Birla ruled that a senior Congress member casting aspersions on the House proceedings was "most unfortunate" as well as against the dignity of parliamentary democracy.

Without taking the name of Gandhi, who is a member of Rajya Sabha, Birla took a stern view on her remarks.

The speaker said as many as 16 bills were passed during the session and the House productivity was pegged at over 118 per cent.

As he spoke, opposition members were raising slogans against Birla's observation against Gandhi that her claim that the Waqf amendment bill was bulldozed without discussion was unfortunate and against dignity of the House.

During the session, the government completed its budgetary exercise after Lok Sabha gave its nod to the demands for grants for the various ministries as well as the Finance Bill.

The budget for Manipur, under central rule, was also cleared.

The Waqf amendment bill, which witnessed a showdown between the government and the Opposition, was passed by Parliament as the two Houses sat for long hours to clear the law.

In his concluding remarks, Birla said the session recorded a productivity of over 118 per cent during 26 sittings of the House.

As many as 173 members participated in the discussion on the President's address. Similarly, the discussion on the budget saw participation of 169 members.

During the session, 10 bills were introduced and 16 bills were passed including the Wakf Amendment Bill.

On April 3, at least 202 members raised matters of public importance in the House during Zero Hour, which is a record for the number of matters raised during Zero Hour in a single day for any Lok Sabha till date.