Ready to discuss Reservation Bill
NEW DELHI: Finance minister A run Jaitley said on Wednesday that the government is ready to have a discussion with opposition leaders on the Women’ s Reservation Bill as a CPI( M) MP rooted for an amendment to the President’s speech in Rajya Sabha. CPI(M) MP TK Rangarajan moved the amendment that was defeated in voting, leaving a wedge in opposition unity on an issue where there was no unity among most regional parties. “I’m suggesting to the member all parties should have a discussion,” Jaitley said. He asked Congress leaders why they didn’t pass the legislation in Lok Sabha when in office. “We had some coalition partners opposing the bill. But the BJP have absolute majority in the House and you could have passed it,” retorted leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad. HTC NEWDELHI: After a brief interruption of four minutes during the telecast of live proceedings from Rajya Sabha while its MP Derek O’Brien was speaking, the Trinamool Congress on Wednesday demanded an inquiry into what they labelled as “blacking out” of the speech.
But Rajya Sabha TV clarified that the interruption was on account of a power failure to the hub that sends the signals from the Parliament to RS TV studios.
Derek O’Brien raised the issue in the Upper House, saying, “The first 4-6 minutes of my speech were not shown on Rajya Sabha TV. I am a member of the Opposition.”
Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the TV channel should give equal coverage to all political parties, whether it is a live telecast or news.
“Don’t convert Rajya Sabha TV to BJP TV. This is Rajya Sabha Television. There should be an enquiry regarding this,” Azad said.
The issue cropped up even after the Opposition parties decided to bury the hatchet after arguing with RS chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday. According to people familiar with the issue, MPs on Wednesday in an informal meeting with Naidu expressed regret if he felt hurt by their comments. They said the issue that was raised on the floor of the House on Tuesday should be left behind.