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Opposition slams government for absence of ministers in Parliament
Deputy chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh said that this issue was mentioned in the Parliament earlier as well, but given the Covid pandemic, chairman Venkaiah Naidu had permitted the ministers to be absent.
The Opposition on Monday slammed the government in Rajya Sabha for the absence of their ministers from the parliamentary proceedings. They said that these ministers were disrespecting the Parliament by getting their papers laid on the table by the minister of state for parliamentary affairs instead of doing so themselves.
Speaking on the behalf of the Opposition, Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member P Chidambaram said, “We can understand that the parliamentary minister can occasionally lay a paper on behalf of his colleague who is unable to attend the House for some reason, but every day we find that the parliamentary affairs minister lays papers for half a dozen ministers. Those half a dozen ministers don’t even respect the Rajya Sabha.”
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“How can he do it every day? Don’t these ministers want to come to Rajya Sabha?” Chidambaram questioned.
Following this, the deputy chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh interrupted Chidambaram saying that this issue was mentioned in the Parliament earlier as well, but given the Covid pandemic, chairman Venkaiah Naidu had permitted the ministers to be absent.
Before Chidambaram could respond, the deputy chairman went ahead with the proceedings of the House.
For several days, the Opposition has been criticising the government for its ministers skipping parliamentary proceedings. Demanding a discussion on the Pegasus snooping issue, the Opposition has sought the presence of the Prime Minister and home minister in the Parliament.
So far, the government has neither confirmed nor denied whether it has purchased the Pegasus spyware. NSO Group has on multiple occasions said that it offers services only to vetted government clients. The company has disputed the leaked list of numbers as those targeted by its clients.
To be sure, as the methodology of the investigation explains, the presence of a number does not indicate the individual’s phone was hacked — just that it was of interest. The government denied any involvement. The opposition, however, has called for a probe into the allegations.
Minister of state for parliamentary affairs V Muraleedharan, who has been laying papers on behalf of the other ministers in Rajya Sabha, laid papers for six ministers who skipped the session on Thursday as well.
The BJP, meanwhile, hit out at the Congress for disrupting Parliament and not allowing discussion on serious issues.
Former union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “The motto of Congress is plain and simple, so long as Parliament is allowed to subserve the dynasty, it will be allowed to function, otherwise not.”
He accused the Congress of not “being serious” about discussions in Parliament.
“The Congress has not been able to reconcile to the fact that the country is reposing its trust in PM Narendra Modi in elections after elections, and that the Congress is losing in elections after elections,” he said.
