NEW DELHI (TIP): The Lok Sabha functioned for less than 20 minutes and the Rajya Sabha for 15 minutes on Thursday, December 16, as Opposition protests rocked Parliament over the demand to sack Union minister Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’, whose son is facing stringent charges in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case.Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who had a chance to ask a question in the Lower House on the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector, chose to flag the demand instead. “We should be allowed to speak about the murder that was committed in Lakhimpur Kheri, where there was an involvement of the minister and about which it has been said that it was a conspiracy. The minister who killed farmers should resign and should be punished.”

As Gandhi continued to press for Mishra’s resignation amid the din, Union parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi objected. “The members of the Congress party are in the Well but he (Gandhi) wants to speak and ask questions. This can’t happen that they will stay in the Well and yet they will talk,” the minister said.

Ashish Mishra, the son of Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra, is facing attempt to murder charges for allegedly mowing down four farmers and a journalist in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3, when eight people died. On Tuesday, an Uttar Pradesh court added stringent charges to the police complaints against Ashish Mishra and 12 other accused. after a special investigation team (SIT) said the violence was “deliberate, pre-planned conspiracy”. This touched off protests by Opposition parties who demanded that Ajay Mishra should resign for an impartial probe, and stalled Parliament on Wednesday.

On Thursday, both Houses started on a somber note with Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla paying tribute to 1971 war heroes and group captain Varun Singh, the only man to have survived the December 8 Mi-17V5 chopper crash that killed 13 people including chief of defense staff General Bipin Rawat, who breathed his last on Wednesday. But disruptions soon took over and many Opposition leaders rushed to the Well and others demanded a debate on the SIT report. Amid chaos in both Houses, the Lok Sabha couldn’t take up the discussion on the Appropriation Bill for supplementary demand for grants and two debates on price rise and climate change were again derailed. But minutes before the adjournment, The Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Lower House of Parliament. The Upper House failed to take up the all-important discussion on the Omicron variant and the bill to amend the narcotics act didn’t go through. Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Harivansh managed to start the debate on Omicron variant and pointed out to the Opposition that it demanded a debate on two issues—price rise and Omicron—and both were accepted. The winter session of Parliament began on November 29 but was immediately roiled by protests over the suspension of 12 lawmakers from Opposition parties.