With Parliament's proceedings being stalled by the opposition's protests over the Pegasus issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday slammed it for its conduct, including tearing papers and making "derogatory" remarks on the way bills have been passed, as he accused them of insulting the legislature and the Constitution.
Briefing reporters on PM Modi's speech at the BJP parliamentary party meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the prime minister expressed anger at the conduct of some opposition members and noted that those who tore papers and threw it around have remained unrepentant.
This shows their arrogance, PM Modi said and asked his party members to maintain restraint.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi led a meeting of opposition leaders this morning - the second in a week - amid disruptions and protests in parliament over the Pegasus snooping row, the handling of the pandemic, and farmers' agitation, among other issues. Today's breakfast meeting was called to discuss the option of holding a "mock parliament" outside.
Here are the LIVE updates of Parliament Monsoon Session 2021:
The opposition protest over the Pegasus snooping controversy and the contentious farm laws disrupted Lok Sabha proceedings leading to two subsequent adjournments on Tuesday.
As soon as the House assembled at 11 am, the opposition members came to the well and started sloganeering over the alleged snooping through the Pegasus software and demanding scrapping of the three farm laws enacted last year, PTI reported.
The Opposition has alleged that names of several Indian politicians, journalists, lawyers, and activists have appeared on the leaked list of potential targets for surveillance by an unidentified agency using Pegasus spyware.
