Twitter
Advertisement

Lok Sabha conducts business as Opposition stays away

Outside Parliament, govt-Congress friction amplifies

Latest News
article-main
Sonia Gandhi and other Congress leaders during their protest against suspension of 25 party MPs at Parliament House in New Delhi on Tuesday
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

The political impasse in Parliament escalated on Tuesday as major opposition parties joined the Congress protest over suspension of its 25 Lok Sabha MPs by boycotting the lower house and stalling Rajya Sabha. While the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day without transacting any business, the Lok Sabha went on with the scheduled business, sans the Opposition.

Barring the AIADMK and BJD, all other opposition parties boycotted Lok Sabha in solidarity with the Congress. The government plans to take up business listed for the week including the Negotiable Instrument (Amendment) Bill to replace the ordinance and the Delhi High Court (Amendment) Bill.

After days of paralysis, the Lower House passed the Railways supplementary demands for excess grants (railways) for 2012-13 and the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill of 2014.

But, outside the House the war of words between Congress and BJP intensified. The Congress termed the suspension of members as murder of democracy while the BJP issues a resolution in its parliamentary party meet accusing the main opposition party of being obstructionist and stifling democracy.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi led her MPs for a 45-minute long "dharna" under the Mahatma Gandhi's giant statue in the Parliament House. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi were by her side -- all wearing black bands and waving black flags. The Congress has decided to carry on with its "dharna" till Friday from 1015 to 1100 hrs with Gandhi leading it. The party may review its strategy on Friday, a senior Congress leader said.

The Opposition boycott has added to the uncertainty on the fate of crucial legislations, including the GST Bill, Land Acquisition Bill and Real Estate Bill, particularly in the Rajya Sabha where it is in a minority. The government was keen on passage of the GST bill, whose timeline would get disturbed if it is not passed in this session.

All members of Congress, Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Trinamool Congress, CPI(M), Nationalist Congress Party and Aam Admi Party stayed away from Lok Sabha while in Rajya Sabha, Congress stormed into the well each time it assembled, while other opposition members stood in their seats to support their demand for removal of foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and the chief ministers of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh -- Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and the Left leaders were present in Lok Sabha briefly to plead for withdrawal of suspension of Congress MPs, but Speaker Sumitra Mahajan refused to allow them to speak, forcing them to finally walk out.

Sonia Gandhi told reporters that it was a black day for democracy. "It is the duty of the government to ensure functioning of Parliament, but the way the Congress MPs were suspended, it is anti-democratic," she said.

Manmohan Singh said, "Suspension of 25 Congress MPs is not a way of resolving an issue. It is the responsibility of the government to respond to the concerns being raised by us for so long now."

Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of shielding the guilty, Rahul Gandhi said, "The Modi government will soon understand that truth cannot be silenced. The people of India, and Congress have shown this in the case of the Land Bill. Truth will not be silenced in the case of corruption scams either, where the Prime Minister is protecting the guilty. We stand with each of our suspended MPs."

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said the government was behaving like a king and wanted to treat opposition parties like slaves. He said the Congress President personally contacted leaders of various parties that came out in support by "boycott" of the Lok Sabha. "This is our way of boycotting the Speaker who suspended our MPs on Monday for raising slogans and carrying placards in the House well," he said

Even though AIADMK and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) did not join the boycott of the Lok Sabha along with other opposition parties, they broached the issue during the zero hour. But the Speaker did not allow them to speak, taking the stand that the Speaker's rulings cannot be discussed in the House.

The first to raise the issue of the MPs' suspension was Indian National Lok Dal member Dushyant Chautala, whose grandfather and former Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala as also his father are in Tihar Jails in primary school teachers' recruitment scam. He had given an adjournment notice. Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) member Jay Prakash Narayan also tried to broach the suspension issue and later walked out when the Speaker overruled them and started the question hour. Just before them, CPM group leader P Karunakaran too walked out with half a dozen party MPs after pleading to review the suspensions.

While Congress was protesting, the BJP passed a resolution accusing the main opposition party of being "narrow minded, partisan, obstructionist and anti-development". The resolution passed at the BJP's weekly parliamentary party meet said the Congress had adopted a negative strategy.

Sonia Gandhi's "black day for democracy" remark had apparently infuriated the BJP, which retaliated by recalling the emergency saying it was Congress which had stifled democracy. The resolution alleged that the Congress was stalling the progress of "path breaking initiatives" like GST, enhancing credibility of real estate sector and enabling hassle free land acquisition for infrastructure development and national security.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement