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‘Oppn voice wasn’t heard…BJP missing leader like Jaitley': Jairam Ramesh
Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh accused the government of not listening to the Opposition’s demands of holding discussions on key issues.
A day after the Centre accused the Opposition of orchestrating protests to derail proceedings during the recently concluded monsoon session, former Union minister and senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh accused the government of not listening to the Opposition’s demands of holding discussions on key issues.
Edited excerpts:
Union ministers said on Thursday that the Opposition must apologise.
Apologise for what? Is the government willing to apologise for not fulfilling the commitment or malign the Rajya Sabha and turn it into a war like zone? Why should we apologise? They said it was our compulsion to support the 127th Constitution amendment bill. I would say, it was their compulsion to nullify the Supreme Court order. Opposition voice was never heard. We also found the chair partisan. I’ve seen Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in the chair. He managed such situations in a far better way.
The BJP’s basic problem is absence of Arun Jaitley. What he said, he delivered. They are feeling the absence of man of his seniority and gravitas.
The BJP is blaming the Opposition for continuous disruptions and ruckus in the House.
The same BJP engineered a complete washout in 2010. The current chairman was a front row member that time. They masterminded the washout of the winter session and half the monsoon session in 2010. BJP leader late Arun Jaitley had said, disruption is a legitimate instrument fort the Opposition. We wanted to debate, not agitate and protest. But who can agree to have bills passed in the din?
The government said the Opposition pre-planned disruption as they were not interested in running Parliament.
We wanted the House to run. In fact, I am accused by some Opposition leaders for trying to run the House. But Pegasus was a serious issue, and it agitated us. On July 22, we said first and foremost discussion on Pegasus in the presence of PM and HM, and a probe by a Supreme Court-appointed committee. We dropped the second demand and only sought a reply from HM. It’s bizarre to have IT minister give a bland, meaningless statement. We also said insurance bill is deeply problematic and so refer it to a parliamentary committee. In fact, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal told me, “The government is in no hurry to pass the bill.”
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi got very active. He attended 3 Opposition meetings, chaired a breakfast meeting…
There is no competition for the opposition space. We have to first consolidate this unity. Opposition has to work on four pillars. The Maharashtra pillar is parties averse to each other can come together to form a non-BJP government. The second is the Tamil Nadu pillar, which stands for long-term alliances like the one between the Congress and DMK. The third is the Bengal pillar, where a very strong regional party and takes on the BJP as Mamata Banerjee has done.
