Price rise deadlock ends in Parliament

The week-long deadlock in Parliament over the modality and rule under which price rise should be discussed was broken on Monday, with both sides agreeing to a mutually acceptable draft statement that will be adopted by the two Houses after a debate on the issue that does not entail voting.

The week-long deadlock in Parliament over the modality and rule under which price rise should be discussed was broken on Monday, with both sides agreeing to a mutually acceptable draft statement that will be adopted by the two Houses after a debate on the issue that does not entail voting.

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The deal — which set the stage for resumption of normal business in the two Houses — was brokered over a breakfast meeting the leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee had with party leaders.

The BJP agreed to drop its demand for a debate under rule 184 that involves voting And the government, in turn, agreed to have, after the debate, a resolution expressing the concern of the House. The Lok Sabha will discuss the issue on Tuesday and the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

The Congress’s approach was spelt out in an article by Sonia Gandhi in the party organ Congress Sandesh, where she urged workers to tell people why the fuel hike was necessary. By the end of Mukherjee’s meeting, questions were being raised about why the BJP had raised its demand for a price rise discussion under a particular format to such a pitch and why the two sides could not have agreed to a compromise formula earlier.