Opposition leaders express 'regret' over boycotting RS

The leaders of opposition parties, which had boycotted the Rajya Sabha proceedings on Tuesday, sought to leave the episode behind, saying they had the "highest respect" for the chairman, and expressed regret to him if he felt hurt, sources said.

Some opposition parties, led by the Congress, had boycotted the post-lunch session yesterday, alleging that their voice was being "muzzled" and that they were not allowed to raise issues due to long adjournments. They had also written a letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, expressing their anguish.

The opposition leaders met Naidu this morning, when Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad broached the issue and referred to the rules and conventions of the House, the sources said.

When one of them, quoting media reports, wanted to know if a letter was written against the chairman, some others said, "Let us leave behind what happened yesterday. We have the highest respect for the chairman. If he felt hurt, we express regret."

Naidu and the floor leaders also discussed the issue of availability of time and the business to be concluded in the House this week and decided to do away with the Question Hour to complete the discussion on the motion of thanks to the president.

Naidu is learnt to have said that sufficient time needs to be given to the members for discussing the Union Budget.

Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha TV said it could not air live proceedings of the Upper House for some time due to a power failure in the optical cable fibre hub and that the reasons behind it were being looked into.