Three main opposition parties - the Biju Janta Dal (BJD), Shiv Sena, and the Samajwadi Party - have rejected the Trinamool Congress' demand for adjournment of the Parliament session as five states are poll-bound.
BJD's floor leader Prasanna Acharya in the Rajya Sabha rejected the TMC's request for adjournment of the second part of the Budget session.
"Elections are being held in five states, not all over the country. This is the budget session of Parliament, it is very important. The budget has to be discussed in the House so I don't think this session should be outrightly closed because constitutional requirements have to be performed. I don't see any logic in postponing the session due to elections," he said.
Earlier in the day, TMC MPs Derek O'Brien and Sudip Bandyopadhyay urged Chairman Vice President Venkaiah Naidu to adjourn the Budget Session of Parliament in light of the Assembly elections taking place in five states across the country.
"Due to the ongoing intensive election preparations in the State, the Members of Parliament from the All India Trinamool Congress would find it difficult to attend the second part of the Budget Session beginning from March 8, 2021," O'Brien wrote in his letter.
Shivsena Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi told , "Budget session has been decided only after consultation with all these parties. I believe that the Chairman is competent enough to make a decision."
"The session may not be postponed but it could be curtailed. The winter session was postponed in name of COVID-19 because a discussion was not wanted in the House. So there is a lot of genuine demand here that elections are going on in the states. If the presence of everyone is necessary, a decision should be taken keeping that in mind," she added.
Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav told that he did not agree with the request.
The second part of the Budget session of Parliament commenced on Monday with all COVID-19 precautionary measures in place.
The Rajya Sabha will function from 9 am to 2 pm while Lok Sabha will function between 4 pm to 10 pm. The second part of the session will conclude April 8, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had informed.
( With inputs from ANI )
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