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MPs working overtime to finish democracy: Somnath

Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee admonished MPs who rushed to the well of the House for the second consecutive day.

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Rs2crore goes down the drain as Lok Sabha is disrupted for second day

NEW DELHI: With all his efforts to ensure a smooth session of parliament, in particular the sacrosanct question hour, having failed, thanks to competitive politics over farmers’ suicide, an angry Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee admonished on Thursday MPs who rushed to the well of the House for the second consecutive day. “You are all working overtime to finish democracy in this country,” he told them.

Chatterjee, who was forced to adjourn the House, said, “It is (a) matter of great sorrow...on one hand, you are asking for more sittings… so many notices have been given by so many honourable members. These important matters cannot be discussed. The discussion on the motion of thanks on the president’s address is to start today.”

Regretting that MPs were “not willing to work”, the speaker said, “With great sorrow, sadness and with great resentment I am forced to adjourn the House. Let the names (of those who stormed the well) be sent to me.”

With an eye on the likely farmers’ package in the budget on Friday, political parties have been jockeying to position themselves as being responsible for securing it.

BJP, Shiv Sena, TDP, SP and Akali Dal members stormed the well of the House as soon as it assembled, shouting slogans for debt relief for distressed farmers, forcing an hour’s adjournment.

On Wednesday also, they had enacted a similar scene in both the Houses, forcing adjournments. Except for laying of papers and economic survey, no business has been transacted in the last 48 hours – that is over Rs2crore down the drain. The per-minute cost of running the House is Rs26,000.

However, after stalling the House for two days, the opposition parties, government sources said, had agreed to cooperate and from Friday Parliament may resume normal functioning.   

On the eve of the session, Chatterjee had initiated a series of meetings with leaders of all major political parties with the plea that they should cooperate in running the House smoothly. The speaker is particularly irked with the disruption of question hour, when members get a chance to grill ministers on various issues concerning the people and elicit government’s response.

k_benedict@dnaindia.net

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