Parliament is rocked by a NEET fracas as the opposition calls for discussion

House is stalled by combative opposition over NEET.

NEW DELHI: The opposition's demand for a debate on purported anomalies in the conduct of NEET-UG led to turbulent scenes in both Houses of Parliament on Friday, with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourning the House within fifteen minutes in the morning.

The Rajya Sabha was repeatedly adjourned as the House debated the motion of thanks on the President's speech, prompted by opposition parties wanting an urgent discussion.

Opposition benches in the Lok Sabha blocked the House from moving on with business until a debate on NEET and other exam-related matters was undertaken. Soon after the obituary references ended, Birla adjourned the House because Rahul Gandhi's opposition would not budge. Initially, the House was adjourned until noon, and then for the whole day.

Opposition MPs were informed by Birla and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju that they may raise the issue at the motion of thanks on the President's speech. "demonstration inside the House is not the same as demonstration outside the House. Do the opposition members not want for the House to run? Are you saying that we shouldn't talk about NEET during the motion of thanks? Birla queried.

According to Rijiju, the House has never debated a matter prior to a vote on the motion of gratitude about the President's speech.

When Rahul claimed that his microphone had been turned off while he was attempting to speak, the Speaker responded that he was not authorized to do so for any member.

Rahul then made the following comment in a video: "India bloc wants to have a constructive debate with government on NEET exam and the issue of paper leaks." It is regrettable that today in Parliament we were denied the opportunity to do so."

"We wanted to give a joint message to students from on the behalf of opposition along with govt that we consider this an important issue," he said.

Similar events took place in the Rajya Sabha. Members of the opposition, led by Mallikarjun Kharge, poured into the House's well and continued to demonstrate despite many adjournments. "It was very painful for me, inconceivable for me, that Mallikarjun Kharge, a leader with parliamentary knowledge of over five decades... walked into the well of the House," said a visibly agitated Jagdeep Dhankhar, the chairman. I have seen the tarnishing, tainting, and dehumanization of this institution."

House Speaker J P Nadda questioned Congress on Thursday's business advisory committee meeting about why it had initially consented to a debate on the President's speech before submitting notices of suspension of sessions to address NEET.

Outside the House, Kharge said that while he didn't intend to go down the well, he did so because the Chair was not looking at or listening to him.

The BJP's Sudhanshu Trivedi had started the debate on the motion of thanks but had been frequently stopped when the House reconvened at 2:00 pm. While opposition parties abstained from the debate, BJP members took part in it.