Winter session: Deadlock continues in Parliament

As the Winter session entered its third week on Monday, Parliament remained deadlocked and stalled due to stand-off between the Opposition and the government over demonetization and how the debate should be held on it.

For the 13th consecutive day, both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha failed to transact any business due to the uproar created by the Opposition over demonetisation, even as the government expressed readiness to discuss the issue and listen to the views of members regarding "deficiencies" in its implementation so that these can be corrected. The Lok Sabha could not function because of differences over the Rule under which a debate should be held while the Rajya Sabha was paralysed due to uproar by Opposition over cash crunch due to demonetisation.

In the Lok Sabha, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the government is ready for a debate but it should be left to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to take a decision regarding the Rule under which the debate should be undertaken.
Singh, who spoke after Mallikarjun Kharge (Cong), Sudip Bandhyopadhyay (Trinamool Congress), Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP), Jithender Reddy (TRS) and Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav (RJD), said it was clear that nobody was questioning the intent of the government over demonetisation even though some felt it was not done in a proper way. He also said the Opposition was divided as parties like TRS and BJD wanted debate under Rule 193 which does not entail voting instead of Rule 184 which entails voting as demanded by parties like Congress, Trinamool Congress and Left.

Congress and Trinamool, however, maintained its demand that a debate should be held under Rule 184. An attempt was made to take up the debate under Rule 193, with TRS leader A P Jithender Reddy being called to initiate the discussion. As Opposition members protested the move, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said for the past two weeks all members have been seeking a debate on the issue of note ban.
He said while the opposition has been demanding a vote on the debate, it should be held under Rule 193.

As Reddy rose to speak, Trinamool Congress members surrounded him and created a lot of noise by resorting to shouting, including using the TRS leader's microphone. Meanwhile, Congress members were in the Well of the House, shouting slogans. Reddy, who has been favouring a debate under Rule 193, spoke briefly but nothing could be heard in the din. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar also said something which could not be heard. As chaos prevailed, the House was adjourned for the day at around 2.10 pm.

After the proceedings ended, Trinamool Congress members, who were surrounding Reddy, were seen shaking hands with him. Later, Reddy went up to Rajnath Singh and the two were seen chatting, with the Home Minister patting him. Earlier also, the House was stalled due to chaos because of divergence of positions over mechanism for voting.  When the House met for the day, Kharge raised the issue of problems being faced by people due to cash crunch after demonetisation. He said over 100 people have died across the country while standing in queues outside banks and ATMs to withdraw their money.

People are unable to get their salary and pension, said Kharge who was joined by Sudip Bandopadhyay of Trinamool Congress and leaders of some other Opposition parties. He said his party was not opposed to steps to curb black money and corruption but the implementation of demonetisation was "faulty", as a result of which people were facing hardship. He contended that Congress is willing to have a debate unlike the message going out that it is running away from it.

17 Opposition parties have now decided to seek a debate under Rule 184 that also entails voting instead of Rule 56 under which an adjournment motion is taken up, he said. "We have come down from Rule 56 to Rule 184. Now the government should also come down from Rule 193 and agree to Rule 184," he said evoking laughter. The government has been maintaining that it was ready for a debate on demonetisation of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes under Rule 193 that does not entail voting. Supporting Kharge, Bandopadhyay said the treasury benches should not put pressure on the Opposition by sticking to a particular point. "You have brute majority in the House. But you are avoiding voting, we don't know why," he said.

CPI(M) member P Karunakaran also supported Kharge and Bandopadhyay and wanted the debate to be held under Rule 184. However, Ananth Kumar said BJD and Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) had given notice to hold the debate under Rule 193 and their wish should also be respected. "Please don't take it as a prestige issue. Let's all start the debate. Let all parties come together to fight against the black money," he said. Kumar said they were ready for suspension of Question Hour and initiate debate if the opposition agreed to Rule 193.

Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia countered Kumar and said the Opposition too was against blackmoney and terrorism and ready to start debate under Rule 184. The Speaker said she was ready to start the debate right away if the House agreed. The debate was listed in today's list of business under Rule 193.
She said BJD and TRS had given notices and she cannot ignore them. "They also have their voice and we have to listen to them too," she said, rejecting the opposition demand.
The Speaker wanted members to take up the debate without any rules and said whether to take up division of votes on this or not can be decided later.
This was not acceptable to opposition members who again stormed the Well chanting slogans and targeting the Prime Minister.
Mahajan said "Chair is ready to help you. But you don't want any discussion".
As the loud protests continued for almost half and hour, the Speaker allowed members to raise four Questions amidst the noisy scenes and later adjourned the House till noon.
While Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was present in the House, no AIADMK MP was present in the House apparently due to party chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's serious health condition.

In the Rajya Sabha, Opposition parties raised slogans demanding the government's reply on the problems faced by employees and pensioners. The uproar led to repeated adjournments before the final one at 2.15 pm. Soon after the Upper House mourned the death of two of its former members and the listed papers were laid, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said: "The government employees and pensioners are not getting their salaries. I want to know from the goverment if there is a financial emergency." He said there is no cash in ATMs located even in the Parliament complex. "When we are not getting money from ATMs in Parliament, how do we expect it outside? It seems there is a financial emergency."

Describing it as a serious issue, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien asked members to resume the debate on demonetisation that had been initiated on November 16. "I am agreeing that you are raising a important and serious issue. It is for the government to reply. You start discussion. If all of you shout, what is the benefit? The only remedy is discussion," he said. But as protesting members started shouting at high pitch, Kurien said: "You want a solution to the problem, then go back and raise the issue. Then the government will reply. This is not the way. There is anarchy in the House. I am not going to adjourn. Slogan shouting is no solution. You will get certain headlines in newspapers and nothing more. I will not adjourn." The Treasury benches countered the Opposition shouting "We want discussion, We want discussion." As the Opposition members refused to heed to the Chair's repeated pleas to return to their seat, Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu suggested the Chair to take up the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2014.

But Opposition members did not agree. Naresh Agarwal (SP) said the government has made the entire country "disabled" as the people were facing problems due to demonetisation. "An explosive situation has developed," he said, raising the issue of government employees not being paid salaries following demonetisation. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi objected to a word used by Agarwal, which the Chair later expunged. Referring to the non-payment of salaries to employees, Anand Sharma (Cong) said "over the weekend, the sitation has worsened". He said a large number of people have lost jobs following government's "disastrous mismanagement" of demonetisation and asked the Centre to "rectify" the "suffering inflicted" by the government on the people.

Sharma also stressed that members were in favour passage of the Disabilities Bill, but added "when the House is not in order, the Bill cannot be passed". Sharma also alleged that ruling party members were creating disturbances in the House. Amid din, Kurien permitted Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot to move the Disabilities Bill. Kurien sought cooperation from the members for passage of the bill saying it is a "non-controversial" legislation.

However, the Bill could not be passed due to the din. Kurien also warned Sasikala Pushpa, expelled from AIADMK, for carrying a placard with message 'Save Our Amma'. Countering the Opposition, Bhupinder Yadav (BJP) raked up issues related to 2G and coal scams. Another senior Congress MP Satish Sharma wondered whether the government has become "bankrupt" as it was not paying salaries to employees.
Kurien said the disability bill cannot be passed amid din and adjourned the House for the day, as the noisy protests continued.