Govt reaches out to Oppn but logjam may continue
NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh reached out to at least two senior Opposition leaders on Monday in an effort to bring the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament back on the rails, but with both the government and the Opposition sticking to their respective positions, chances of this happening are fast slipping away.
The defence minister spoke to the Rajya Sabha’s Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress and the Trinamool Congress’s Lok Sabha chief Sudip Bandopadhyay. Both reiterated that a debate on the Pegasus snooping row is a must for disruptions to end, people familiar with the matter said. As many as 13 opposition parties have been protesting from the first day of the monsoon session over the Pegasus controversy, the three farm laws and spiraling fuel prices.
“I told him (Singh) that Pegasus is not a personal issue but the party’s issue and a debate should take place,” said Bandopadhyay.
Amid repeated adjournments and fierce protests, productivity of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha now stand at just 14% and 20%. Both Houses faced repeated disruptions and protests on Monday. The government managed to introduce the Tribunals Reforms Bill in the Lok Sabha amidst the din. During the day, the Lower House passed the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021 before it was adjourned for the day. The Rajya Sabha approved the Inland Vessels Bill, 2021.
On Tuesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will meet all
Opposition MPS over breakfast in a bid to consolidate the Opposition’s new-found unity and discuss the strategy for the remaining part of the session. The Akali Dal’s Naresh Gujral said his party has not been invited for the meeting.
The Pegasus row erupted on July 18 after an international investigative consortium reported that many Indian ministers, politicians, activists, businessmen and journalists were among the 50,000 numbers that were potentially targeted by Israeli company NSO Group’s phone hacking software, Pegasus, with a forensic analysis of 10 of the targets proving they had been hacked or that there had been attempts to do so.
But the long spell of disruptions have also led to underlying tension within the Opposition ranks.
“A section of the Opposition is of the view now that marathon disruption is hurting Opposition’s interest as the government is clearing two bills daily,” said a senior leader of an opposition party.
The government’s floor managers, however, said the opposition was given a chance to discuss the Pegasus issue but instead opted to disrupt the House. The Opposition wants Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah to be in the House during the debate. The BJP leader added that the opposition had a chance to ask questions when IT Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw made a statement on the controversy in both houses of Parliament. “The government did not run away from addressing the issue. A statement was made by the minister in charge on the floor of the House in Parliament...”
Congress chief whip Jairam Ramesh maintained that the government has offered no proposal for a debate so far and there’s no outreach. “The Opposition has told the government managers to call a meeting chaired by Singh in a bid to end the stalemate,” Ramesh added.