‘Guillotine’ on anvil as House logjam persists

All-party meetings scheduled by Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday failed to break an ongoing deadlock between the government and Opposition that has jammed Parliament, hinting that the second half of the budget session might be headed towards a complete washout

All-party meetings scheduled by Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday failed to break an ongoing deadlock between the government and Opposition that has jammed Parliament, hinting that the second half of the budget session might be headed towards a complete washout.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned after the Jammu and Kashmir budget was passed on Tuesday. (ANI)

But people aware of the matter said that the government might push through its remaining agenda -- which includes the demand for grants or the budgets of various ministries -- despite the din, as the chances of a debate on these issues appear practically nil. The first sign that the government may opt to “guillotine” the budgets -- which refers to the passage of a legislation without debate or discussion -- came on Tuesday when the Lok Sabha cleared the Jammu & Kashmir budget without any discussion.

The Centre has to secure the Lok Sabha’s approval for the finance bill in this session, which has been marred by near-constant protests and disruptions due to the government demand for an apology from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his comments in the UK, and the Opposition ask for a joint parliamentary committee to probe allegations of fraud levelled at the Adani Group by American firm Hindenburg Research.

A section of the Opposition said a compromise formula -- where the Opposition withdraws its demand for a probe and the government drops its demand for an apology -- was discussed informally but the Congress rejected the plan as it thinks that the government is on the back foot. But government managers denied such a proposal.

Floor leaders of at least 15 Opposition parties stayed away from Dhankhar’s meeting that was attended by members of just three parties -- the Bharatiya Janata Party, YSR Congress Party and Telugu Desam Party -- said the people cited above. In Birla’s meeting, Congress’s Lok Sabha floor leader Adhir Chowdhury told the Speaker that his party was unmoved on its demand for a JPC probe. The government leaders too, indicated no climbing down from their demand of an apology from Rahul Gandhi.

Leader of the Rajya Sabha and Union minister Piyush Goyal later lashed out at the Opposition for “wilfully” stalling Parliament over “unfounded allegations and with irresponsible comments to mislead the country even the world is looking at India.” He accused the Congress and its allies for “misleading the country” when the Union Budget had drawn “all-round praise” and Modi was recognised as the most popular leader in the world .

Flanked by parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi, Goyal blamed Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge for refusing to meet Dhankhar, and accused Congress chief whip Jairam Ramesh of insulting the chairman on many occasions.

Joshi later tweeted, “The opposition is shunning the Parliament because it is suffering from idea and issue-bankruptcy. They have no interest in ending the ongoing impasse in Parliament or respecting the efforts of the Rajya Sabha chairman in this direction.”

Floor leaders of the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Aam Aadmi Party, Biju Janata Dal, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Janata Dal (United), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena (Uddhav), Samajwadi party, Communist Party of India, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, Asom Gana Parishad and others stayed away from Dhankhar’s meeting, signalling their non-negotiable position on the demand for a probe into the Adani Group.

Dhankhar’s office said the chairman told two Opposition emissaries that their decision to skip the meeting “will be unwholesome and inappropriate, and his feelings so be conveyed to the leaders.” Dhankhar also described the logjam in Rajya Sabha as “unfortunate”.

In his meeting, Birla asked other parties for their opinion. Most of them, including the TMC, the second-largest Opposition outfit in Parliament, preferred that the House run. “The government also showed some flexibility,” said an official,requesting anonymity. “But the meeting ended in 15 minutes as the Congress rejected peace proposals,” the official added.

Birla suggested both sides keep their key demands—JPC and Gandhi’s apology— outside the Lok Sabha and focus on the pending agenda of the House. He also stressed that budgetary proposals such as the demand for grants and the finance bill must be passed after thorough discussion.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Shaktisinh Gohil alleged that BJP members didn’t let Kharge speak in the House twice despite the chairman of the Rajya Sabha permitting him. “The moment Kharge’s name was called, the ruling party members started sloganeering and the House was adjourned,” he said.

Both Houses were adjourned for the day. The Opposition also staged a protest from inside Parliament building for the first time. The Opposition congregated in front of the SBI branch to highlight the bank’s alleged exposure to the Adani Group. The TMC, which launched its own protest, demanded Gautam Adani be arrested.

Ramesh said the Opposition’s demand for a JPC should not be linked to the BJP’s demand for Gandhi’s apology. “The JPC is on a real, documented scam. The apology demand is a hoax being raised to divert attention from the Adani scam,” he tweeted. The Congress also alleged that Kharge couldn’t complete his speech by sloganeering BJP MPs. “Chairman then adjourned RS. How can the logjam be broken if Modi government behaves like this,” he added.

Both presiding officers will hold another round of meeting on March 23. The session is scheduled to end on April 6.