india

Updated: Jun 25, 2019 11:39 IST

The Rajya Sabha has been adjourned for three hours as a mark of respect for BJP’s Rajasthan unit chief and sitting member Madan Lal Saini. The House will reassemble at 2 pm for completing the debate on the motion of thanks.

Saini, 75, died on Monday at AIIMS in Delhi. The lawmaker, who was under treatment at a private hospital in Jaipur for infection in lungs, was shifted to the national capital on Saturday.

The decision to adjourn the Upper House till 2 pm rather than the entire day was taken this morning at a meeting of leaders of about 15 parties. Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu chaired the meeting.

The government is keen that the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address be completed Tuesday to enable the prime minister reply to the debate before he leaves for Japan for the G20 summit on Wednesday.

This isn’t the first time when the Rajya Sabha has decided to briefly adjourn proceedings as a mark of respect.

Back in 1984, Rajya Sabha had adjourned only for an hour when Kalyan Ray of CPI died. Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad told the meeting that when former junior external affairs minister E Ahmed, a Lok Sabha member, died, the budget was presented as scheduled.

It was, however, in 2016 that the Rajya Sabha ended the practice of adjourning the house for the entire day if a sitting member dies during the inter-session period. The Rajya Sabha had, however, decided to continue with the convention of adjourning the proceedings for the day if a sitting member dies when parliament is in session.