The union government on Thursday made a fresh attempt to break the ongoing deadlock in Parliament with parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju reaching out to Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Thursday, and to extend support for the delimitation bill.
According to people aware of the details, during the telephonic conversation between the two, Gandhi is learnt to have said that there should be an all-party meeting to discuss the issue further, which Rijiju did not agree to. On Wednesday, Rijiju met Gandhi at the latter’s office for more than 40 minutes to discuss the delimitation bill and ways to end the logjam.
Rijiju for his part said, “I had a productive conversation with Rahul Gandhi. We made a request regarding a specific matter and also discussed other issues. We desire continuous communication and coordinated action with the Congress and other opposition parties. We may be political opponents, but we are not enemies; therefore, we should work together in the national interest. However, the impression created outside is that they are determined not to let Parliament function at all, but who ultimately suffers from that?”
He said given the disruptions in Parliament, there is an impression created outside is that the opposition “is determined not to let Parliament function.”
{{/usCountry}}He said given the disruptions in Parliament, there is an impression created outside is that the opposition “is determined not to let Parliament function.”
{{/usCountry}}According to a Congress leader, the government’s outreach is aimed at pushing the delimitation bill, which had been defeated once earlier this year. “The government has renewed its efforts to reach out to the Opposition over the delimitation bill. They don’t have the numbers. So they are trying to test the waters,” said a senior leader.
The Congress party is set to issue a three-line whip demanding the presence of all its MPs for the last week of the monsoon session—a bid to prepare against the FCRA bill and to thwart any possible attempt to bring the delimitation-related Constitution amendment bill.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to meet the 20 rebel Trinamool Congress MPs and the Shiv Sena MPs over breakfast as a part of this outreach.
On the opposition’s demand for a statement by the union home minister in the House on the policy action against protestors on July 20, Rijiju said, “...The home minister has introduced bills here and is present in Parliament, working from morning till evening; naturally, the minister whose bill is under consideration is the one who remains present in the House...”
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said, “Everybody witnessing the Parliament knows about this, whether the Congress party or the BJP government is doing all these things. Because we are for discussion. From day one onwards, we are saying that we are open to discussion. Who is stopping the discussion? Government only. The government doesn’t want any discussion. The agenda is to stop the discussion. For discussion on donation theft, discussion on atrocities against students, nothing they don’t want. The Home Minister himself is not even coming; then the blame is on the opposition. Nowadays, people still understand everything.”
People aware of the details said the government had conveyed to the opposition that it is aware of their concerns about the representation of states when the overall seats in the Lok Sabha will be increased.
“The government is not keen on another all party meeting. We have already spoken to them. Last time also we chased them so much, we did so much follow up. Other than the Congress, the government had also reached out to the Samajwadi Party, the NCP and the DMK …” said a person aware of the details.
While the government did not clarify when the FCRA bill will be taken up for discussion, Mizoram CM Lalduhoma who met Shah on the issue of FCRa said he was informed that the bill will be taken up for discussion on August 12.