Lok Sabha was adjourned on Wednesday minutes before Prime Minister Narendra Modi was due to address the House after opposition women MPs advanced towards the treasury benches, reached two rows behind the Prime Minister’s chair and confronted BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, sparking a brief face-off and allegations of security breach.
The commotion began during Question Hour when opposition members, including several women MPs from Congress, Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party, entered the well of the House holding a large banner that read “Jo uchit lage vo karo” and raised slogans. BJP MP Manoj Tiwari later alleged that a group of opposition women MPs climbed up to the area where the Prime Minister sits, ignored repeated appeals by senior ministers to return to their seats and displayed aggressive body language.
“Where the Prime Minister sits, they climbed up to that area. They created a huge ruckus,” Tiwari told reporters. He added that the conduct “raised serious security concerns” and claimed the MPs “could even have attacked the Prime Minister”.
During the disruption, Congress MP Jyotimani and Varsha Gaikwad were seen moving towards BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, prompting BJP women MPs to rush to his defence and leading to a short verbal confrontation near the treasury benches. Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh were not present in the House at the time.
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Speaker Om Birla announced adjournment, but the commotion continued. Sources said that even after adjournment, opposition women MPs again moved towards the treasury benches, advancing up to two rows behind the Prime Minister’s chair in the direction of Dubey. Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and other ministers urged them to step back, but the MPs continued forward until Congress MP Deepender Hooda intervened and persuaded members from both sides to return to their places.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra rejected the BJP’s version and accused the Prime Minister of avoiding the House. “He got scared and that is why he did not arrive in the House,” she said. She also claimed that Vaishnaw and Dubey “ran away like a bullet train”.
Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav said the opposition had been expecting the Prime Minister to respond to issues they wanted to raise. “We were also hoping that PM Modi would come to the House and speak because we had issues such as the way Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi was demolished and the vandalism of the statue of Ahilyabai Holkar,” she said.
The House was adjourned for the day without the Prime Minister’s scheduled address taking place.
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