Question hour should be held in monsoon session of Parliament: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday demanded that Question Hour should be held in the monsoon session of the parliament, which begins on September 14.

Addressing a press conference, Chowdhury, who is Congress leader in Lok Sabha, said he had told the government that Question Hour should not be cut or curtailed.

"Defence Minister Rajnath Singh asked me to agree on scrapping of Question Hour as parliament session is being convened in an extraordinary situation. I told him Question Hour should be held. We demand its reinstatement," he said.

"We were demanding holding of monsoon session virtually. Parliament is set to convene from September 14 after six months. I want to appreciate all who are making this possible. Question Hour and Zero Hour are important during a parliament session. I told him that holding parliament session is the government's job. We want to co-operate. We were told that Zero Hour will be for 30 minutes but there will be no Question Hour. If the government wants they can do it (hold question hour) even in this situation," he added.

There will be no question hour and private members' business during the monsoon session which is being held in COVID-19 pandemic.

The session, which begins from September 14, is slated to conclude on October 1.

The budget session of Parliament started on January 31 and continued till February 11. It recommenced on March 2 in its second leg and was scheduled to end on April 3. However, it was adjourned sine die on March 23 due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The monsoon session of Parliament has been delayed due to COVID-19.

( With inputs from ANI )