Not getting time in RS: Oppn to Naidu

CONG’S KHARGE WRITES A LETTER TO COMPLAIN TO THE RS CHAIRMAN IN A RARE INSTANCE OF SUCH CORRESPONDENCE

NEW DELHI: Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress, the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, has written to the chairman of the House, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, complaining that opposition parties are not being given time to speak, as protests over the Pegasus snooping controversy and farm laws continued to cause a logjam in Parliament.

The rare letter -- leaders of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, the House of elders, aren’t given to complaining of how the House is being run to the chairman -- came even as two senior leaders said the Opposition is exploring more ways to register their protest with Naidu on the situation in the Rajya Sabha. While a section of the Opposition is toying with the idea of a motion against the chairman, others are of the view that PM Narendra Modi and home minishe ter Amit Shah should be targeted for the logjam in Parliament.

A top government functionary said on condition of anonymity that Naidu will not compromise on the issue of maintaining the decorum of the House. On Friday, as protests erupted in the House over the Pegasus snooping row and the farm laws, Naidu said it has been brought to his notice that “some members were blowing whistles in the house, placing their hands on the shoulders of marshals while proceedings were on and taking placards and standing in front of ministers”.

Such actions were a new low, added. “There are two ways to deal with this. Allow the House to become a bazaar or take action (against those behaving badly),” Naidu said. “I feel sorry to say this from the podium…i never expected my members to go that level.” He also cautioned that no one should “exhaust the patience of the House”.

A Congress leader confirmed on condition of anonymity that Kharge “has written to the chairman expressing anguish at the manner in which the Opposition is being treated”.

Congress functionaries added that Kharge has mentioned that even during former vice president Hamid Ansari’s tenure as the chairman, the leader of the Opposition enjoyed freedom in speaking in the House, and no one was allowed to disrupt or stop his speeches, but that this is happening now. He has also said that opposition parties are not getting time to raise their issues.