The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die on Friday after a month-long monsoon session that witnessed pandemonium over several issues, including that of the Chief Vigilance Commission's report on defence deals leading to a no-confidence motion against the Vajpayee government.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani and Leader of Opposition Sonia Gandhi were present in the Lok Sabha as 'Vande Mataram' was played, marking the adjournment of the House.
Speaker Manohar Joshi told the members that the House had a total of 21 sittings, spread over 113 hours, but lost 35 hours and 36 minutes of its precious time due to adjournments on account of members raising slogans and rushing to the well.
He, however, said the House substantially made up for the lost time by sitting late for 28 hours and six minutes, including twice beyond midnight. In effect, the total time lost due to disruptions was little over seven hours.
The highlight of the Monsoon session was a no-confidence motion moved by the opposition against the government and a two-day debate on it on August 18 and 19 that lasted 21 hours and seven minutes.
While the prime minister intervened in the debate, Gandhi replied to it after 39 members participated in the discussion. The motion was defeated after division.
In Rajya Sabha, Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and several other members expressed anguish over opposition boycott on the CVC issue as the House adjourned sine die.
The Rajya Sabha also bade farewell to eight nominated and a lone DMK member from Pondicherry, who are retiring during the inter-session period.
The members who are retiring after a six-year term are Kuldip Nayyar, Raja Ramanna, Shabana Azmi, C Narayana Reddy, Kartar Singh Duggal, Mrinal Sen, Choudhury Harmohan Singh Yadav and P Selvi Das and DMK member C P Thirunavakkarasar.
Joshi told Lok Sabha the House passed 11 bills, including two to amend the Constitution, besides supplementary demands for grants for 2003-04.
Observing that situations arose when it became difficult to transact listed business, the speaker said instead of invoking his disciplinary powers, he endeavoured to resolve issues by holding discussions with leaders.
The House also held debates on construction of the Taj Heritage Corridor, sharing of inter-state river waters between Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, working of investigating agencies particularly the Central Bureau of Investigation and atrocities on Dalits.
The Lok Sabha also witnessed turmoil over the opposition allegations that the CBI had diluted charges against Advani and other accused in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
Another key issue discussed was that of pesticide residues in soft drinks on which a Joint Parliamentary Committee of both Houses was constituted to examine the matter.
In the face of stiff opposition from its allies including TDP, Trinamool Congress, DMK, PMK and MDMK, the government withdrew a bill to ban cow slaughter and declared that it would convene an all-party meeting to forge a consensus.
