Lok Sabha adjourned till 3 pm amid protests by opposition seeking debate on West Asia crisis
New Delhi (PTI): Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 3 pm on Monday amid noisy protests over demand for a debate on the situation in West Asia, with the government accusing the opposition benches of not following basic ethics of the House.
As soon as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar rose to make a statement on the "situation in West Asia", opposition members started raising slogans against the government and demanding a full fledged discussion on the ongoing crisis in West Asia.
Jagadambika Pal, who was chairing the proceedings, said the questions being raised by the Opposition through their placards were being elaborately answered by the government.
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He said while a resolution to remove Om Birla as the Lok Sabha Speaker is already on the agenda, the Opposition was pushing for a notice for adjournment of the proceedings to discuss West Asia.
He wondered how the opposition wants to discuss the two issues on the same day.
"If you are not satisfied with the statement, please approach the business advisory committee to seek a discussion on the subject," Pal said.
After Jaishankar completed his statement, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju accused the opposition of not following ethics of the House.
Rijiju said their notice to remove Birla from office has already been accepted and the government is willing to discuss it but opposition was disrupting the proceedings.
While urging members to go back to their seats, Pal said the no confidence resolution against the Speaker would be taken up when the House is in order.
As the opposition refused to relent, he adjourned the proceedings till 3 pm.
Earlier, the House was adjourned for one hour after paying tributes to one sitting and four former members who had passed away recently.
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SP has ended contract with I-PAC due to fund constraints: Akhilesh Yadav
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said his party has severed its association with the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) due to a lack of funds.
He dismissed speculations that the termination of contract was because of recent election results.
Addressing a press conference here, Yadav said the party had engaged I-PAC for a brief period ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections but could not continue the arrangement.
"Yes, we had an association. They worked with us for a few months, but we are not able to continue because we do not have that kind of funding," he said.
The I-PAC is a political consultancy firm known for managing major election campaigns across the country.
Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has also been associated with the organisation in the past and has worked with multiple parties, including the BJP and the Congress.
In a lighter vein, Yadav took a swipe at the ecosystem of political consultancies. "We thought that if we have to work with a 'winning agency', then there are several big companies."
He said that some people suggested conducting surveys, hiring another firm, keeping a social media company, and even engaging agencies for negative campaigning against other parties.
"There are one or two more companies whose names are not yet known. I can get those for you as well," Yadav said.
Yadav rejected the suggestion that the decision to end the deal was influenced by recent election outcomes in states such as West Bengal.
"There is no such thing. Do not ask questions based on baseless reports. That is not true," he said.
"This is not the reason for ending the agreement. We simply do not have enough funds. If you (the media) give us funds, we can hire another company," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
