Discussion on farmer woes
NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha may see government coming up with some non-contentious bills for discussion and passage in the absence of opposition MPs, some of whom have been suspended for five days.
To start with, it has listed for discussion on Tuesday the ‘plight of farmers’ hoping that the sensitive issue may force the opposition to join the debate and bring the House back on track.
It may not press its legislative agenda immediately on Tuesday, when some of the opposition parties may sit out of the House in protest against suspension of 25 MPs, but aims at getting the bills passed in the Lok Sabha where it has a majority in the remaining days of this session that ends on August 13.
This would save it sometime in the next session when it can take up these bills in the Rajya Sabha.
The support that poured in for the Congress had taken the government’s floor leaders by surprise, particularly after they distanced themselves from the ‘resignation-first-debate-later’ stand of the party.
A senior minister said that the Speaker Sumitra Mahajn’s order was a ‘message’ to the errant MPs and an effort by her to restore order in the house.
“What other options did the Speaker have? You don’t allow the house to function, troop into the well, display placard and then say it’s the responsibility of the government to conduct the house. The Speaker had been dealing with them very patiently,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters.
Trinamool Congress and Aam Aadmi Party were quick to announce a boycott of house proceedings for five days to protest against the suspension. The West Bengal based party had earlier in the meeting supported a debate on serious issues confronting the people, making the government see chinks in opposition’s armour.
However, some floor managers of the government believe the Monday development will create more problems for them and dash whatever hope, if at all, was left about getting some bills passed.
With little chances of the Rajya Sabha functioning, government leaders were planning to use its majority in the Lok Sabha to clear some noncontentious bills even amidst a din. “Sometime, chaos is better than a stalemate. There is possibility of finding a solution in a chaos,” a senior minister said.