Parliament

The Lok Sabha's Winter Session, hamstrung by disruptions over issues ranging from Adani to billionaire George Soros' "links" with the Congress leadership and Amit Shah's Ambedkar remarks, had a productivity of 57.87%, official sources said on Friday.

The Lower House met on November 25 and was adjourned sine die (indefinitely) on Friday amid protests by the opposition and the treasury benches over the alleged insult to B R Ambedkar and directions by Speaker Om Birla to members against holding demonstrations at any gate of Parliament. Among the key bills introduced during the session were two that lay down the mechanism to hold simultaneous elections.

The Lower House last week saw a debate on 75 years of the Constitution's adoption, during which the treasury and the opposition benches launched a series of attacks at each other.

The Lok Sabha sat an extra day last week to discuss the workings of the Constitution.  The Constitution was discussed for 16 hours in the Lok Sabha and 17 hours in the Rajya Sabha. However, no half-hour or short duration discussions were held. These discussions require ministers to respond to issues raised by members.

According to legislative think tank PRS India, Question Hour did not function for more than 10 minutes on 12 out of 20 days in the Lok Sabha. While several notices for adjournment motions were received in the Lok Sabha, none were accepted.

A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was booked in connection with a scuffle on the Parliament premises, sources said police are likely to record the statements of the two injured MPs on Friday .

They said that the Delhi Police was also likely to write to the Parliament secretariat, seeking access to CCTV footage of the area where the alleged incident occurred.

An official said senior police officers may also consider transferring the case to the crime branch from the local police. Gandhi was booked hours after the BJP filed a complaint, accusing him of physical "assault and incitement" during the scuffle in which its two MPs Pratap Chandra Sarangi and Mukesh Rajput were injured.

According to a police source, officials may call Rahul Gandhi for questioning and also record the statements of other MPs who witnessed the incident. The source said a team of police officials may also meet the Sarangi and Rajput at the hospital and record their statements for further investigations. The reports of their medical certificates will be collected, he said.