On Union minister's 2019 mandate jibe, Kharge cites Rajya Sabha numbers

Leader of Opposition in the Upper House Mallikarjun Kharge said the Narendra Modi government had deliberately suspended the 12 MPs so that the bill could be passed easily.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday launched a fresh attack on the Opposition over repeated disruptions during the winter session of Parliament that came to an end during the day.

The winter session of Parliament saw repeated adjournments by the Opposition. (ANI)

Stating that the Opposition is unable to digest the mandate of 2019 that gave the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) an overwhelming majority, Joshi said the government wanted to run the House, but the former wasted too many days creating ruckus without any discussion.

“Rahul Gandhi is a part-time politician, maybe he is going somewhere to celebrate New Year,” he further said while speaking on the issue.

Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned sine die a day ahead of schedule. The session witnessed repeated disruptions and adjournments mainly over the issue of the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs for their "unruly" conduct in the previous monsoon session in August. Opposition members also protested on issues such as price rise and the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

However, Leader of Opposition in the Upper House Mallikarjun Kharge said the Narendra Modi government had deliberately suspended the 12 MPs so that the bill could be passed easily. 

“This winter session started with the suspension of 12 MPs. The decision to suspend them in the winter session on the incident that happened in the monsoon session was absolutely wrong. We wanted to discuss issues of unemployment, inflation and others,” he said.

"We requested the government to revoke suspension so that the House can run smoothly but they refused. Their (BJP) intention was to pass bills immediately without any discussion. Since they were not in majority, they did not want voting on the bills so they decided to reduce the number of Opposition members. As soon as the session started,12 MPs were suspended,” Kharge was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The Congress MP further said the attempt to block the operation of the House was deliberate as "they (government) did not want the issues of China, inflation, unemployment or Union minister of state Ajay Kumar Mishra to be raised". Kharge further said Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu who is also Chairman of the House, had informed him that the winter session might be adjourned indefinitely today.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the Opposition wanted the House to run smoothly, but the government refused to talk on Mishra's issue. “As the Union minister's name came up (in the violence case), we felt the need to talk to the government. We had demanded that the minister be sacked. If the government does not answer the Opposition, they are responsible for the adjournment of Parliament,” he said.

The session saw multiple disruptions by the Opposition members, including trooping into the Well of the House and carrying placards, over the suspension of the 12 MPs and the sacking of Mishra over his jailed son Ashish's involvement in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.