The issue of revocation of suspension of seven Rajya Sabha MPs from the House is likely to be resolved on Friday.
The matter generated heat in Parliament and led to the Rajya Sabha being adjourned twice on Thursday, but by evening both the Centre and the Opposition appeared to be speaking in a reconciliatory tone.
As soon as the House assembled in the morning, leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley apologised to Chairman Hamid Ansari for the behaviour of the errant MPs. “On behalf of our colleagues in the Opposition, I express regret to the Chair for what had happened… We must try and speak to them and consider bringing those suspended colleagues back into the House,” Jaitley said.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said the Centre also wanted the suspension revoked, but the members needed to apologise. “I am confident that the leader of the Opposition is competent to persuade them to really take the necessary steps.”
The Opposition was not satisfied by the minister’s reply and heated exchanges took place between CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury and Congress MP Jayanti Natarajan.
The House was again adjourned, but order prevailed finally at 12 noon. Outside the House, hectic backchannel activity continued between the government and the Opposition. By evening, there were indications that Bansal and senior Opposition leaders would take the seven MPs to Ansari, tender an apology and put the matter to an end.
{{/usCountry}}The House was again adjourned, but order prevailed finally at 12 noon. Outside the House, hectic backchannel activity continued between the government and the Opposition. By evening, there were indications that Bansal and senior Opposition leaders would take the seven MPs to Ansari, tender an apology and put the matter to an end.
{{/usCountry}}“The only problem was that two of the seven MPs were not in Delhi, therefore it could not be done today and everything should be sorted out on Friday,” said a senior minister.