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Amid din, govt says discussion on price rise is likely next week
The government on Wednesday said a discussion on price rise and inflation is likely to be taken up next week in Parliament, sparking hope that the acrimony between the government and Opposition benches that has jammed the monsoon session will be resolved soon.
The government on Wednesday said a discussion on price rise and inflation is likely to be taken up next week in Parliament, sparking hope that the acrimony between the government and Opposition benches that has jammed the monsoon session will be resolved soon.
Proceedings in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha remained disrupted on Wednesday as Opposition members protested against issues of price rise and inflation not being taken up for discussion.
“A broad understanding in this regard has been arrived today morning in the meeting of chairman M Venkaiah Naidu with the leaders of Opposition and the concerned ministers,” a government functionary said, requesting anonymity.
At the meeting, which was attended by 10 Opposition leaders and three Union ministers, the government clarified that it wanted the discussion to take place once Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman recuperates from Covid-19 and is ready to answer in the House.
“The chairman met opposition leaders and also met the finance minister to enquire about her readiness to reply to the debate on the issue of price rise,” added the functionary quoted above.
Among the Opposition leaders present for the meeting were Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal (Congress); Ram Gopal Yadav (Samajwadi Party); Derek O`Brien (Trinamool Congress); Tiruchi Siva (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam); Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena); Elamaram Kareem(Communist Party of India-Marxist); Binoy Viswam (Communist Party of India); Suresh Reddy (Telangana Rashtra Samithi) and Vaiko (Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam). They met Naidu to discuss the suspension of Rajya Sabha members and push for their demand for a discussion on price rise. The meeting was also attended by the minister of parliamentary affairs Pralhad Joshi, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal andminister of state for parliamentary affairs V Muraleedharan.
“The ministers said since the FM returned to office, price rise can be scheduled for discussion any day and the schedule for such a discussion in both the Houses of Parliament will be finalised in consultation with the Speaker of Lok Sabha,” the functionary said.
An Opposition leader however said that the government had still not given a date for the discussion. “There is still no clarity and yet they accuse the Opposition of disrupting the house,” the lawmaker said following the meeting with Naidu.
To a question on how the government was preparing to end the stalemate, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said, “The proceedings will go on and we are confident of passing bills.”
Some Opposition leaders suggested that the discussion should be scheduled for when the suspension of the members is revoked. Nineteen members from five Opposition parties were suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the rest of the week on Tuesday, marking the highest number of lawmakers to have been suspended from the Upper House in a single day. This came a day after four Congress members were suspended from the Lok Sabha for the rest of the session for alleged misconduct.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Joshi said the government was ready for a discussion provided the Opposition leaders guarantee no disruptions. ”We are always ready for a positive discussion in Parliament, but the Congress party keeps disturbing the house. We are even ready to call back the suspended members, but the Opposition should ensure that they do not disturb the house again,” he said.
Referring to the suspension of MPs, the Opposition leaders told Naidu that the number of members suspended was high and suggested that the suspension may be revoked so as to have “good attendance in the House”, according to an official.
“They also suggested that a specific date may be indicated on which the price rise could be discussed. Some leaders felt that unconditional revocation of suspension would be appropriate,” the functionary quoted above said.
Kharge, who wore a black turban in the House, also wrote a letter to Naidu, urging him to move a motion “resolving that the suspension of the MPs.
On the issue of suspension of Members, Naidu urged the leaders of Opposition parties to understand the “agony that the presiding officer would go through before naming the erring members.”
“He categorically stated that revocation of suspension could be considered if only the erring members realise the gravity of their misconduct in the House and regret the same. He said that such naming and suspensions are the last resort to uphold the prestige and dignity of the House,” the functionary said.
He also defended the suspension on the grounds that the members had continued to raise slogans and disrupted the proceedings even after several appeals by the deputy chairman Harivansh.
Reacting to the government’s demand for an apology from the suspended MPs, O’Brien tweeted: “Government wanted Opposition parties in RS to ‘express regret’ on behalf of all the 19 MPs suspended. We told Govt.: GOVT SHOULD EXPRESS REGRET for not taking up discussion in #Parliament #PriceRise No question of Oppn expressing regret for standing up for people issues.”
Naidu also called to his chamber a member who shot videos of the proceedings of the House and uploaded them on social media. “The member was told about the infringement of the rules of the House in doing so and was asked not to repeat. The concerned member said that video recording was done only on the first day of the session and not thereafter and will not do so hereafter,” the functionary said.
