Lok Sabha adjourned sine die after passage of Finance Bill

mangaloretoday/ yahoo

New Delhi, March 23, 2020: The Lok Sabha has been adjourned sine die after passage of the Finance Bill due to the looming threat of COVID-19. In the Lower House, the Finance Bill 2020 was passed without discussion.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in the House when Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House sine die.

The second part of the Budget session commenced on March 2 and was earlier scheduled to conclude on April 3.

On Monday, the Parliament House wore a deserted look as not a single member was visible within the premises.

Earlier, many opposition parties including the Congress, Shiv Sena and TMC had questioned the government over its decision to allow the functioning of the Parliament in view of the outbreak. The parties had urged the government to shut the Parliament in order to ensure social distancing as thousands of people including MPs and staff visit the Parliament daily when it is in the session.

The Shiv Sena and TMC MPs didn’t take part in the proceedings on Monday, citing the coronavirus threat and the government’s advisory for isolation.

Two BJP MPs — V Muraleedharan and Suresh Prabhu last week went into self isolation as a precautionary measure. Both of them have been tested negative for Covid-19. While Prabhu placed himself under quarantine after a trip to Saudi Arabia, Singh took the decision after he attended a party in Lucknow and came in contact with singer Kanika Kapoor who was tested positive later. Both the BJP leaders have been tested negative for the Covid-19.