Govt, Oppn spar over ruckus inside House
Day after violent scenes played out in the Rajya Sabha, Centre, opposition blame each other
NEW DELHI: The acrimonious standoff between the Opposition and the Union government continued on Thursday despite an abrupt end to the Monsoon Session a day earlier, with the Centre blaming the opposition lawmakers for “disruptive (and) threatening behaviour” that forced Parliament to close two days early and the opposition parties alleged that “outsiders” had been sent to Parliament to misbehave with lawmakers, including women MPs.
The barbs began on Thursday after closed circuit television (CCTV) footage of Wednesday’s parliamentary proceedings – purportedly showing Opposition leaders jostle with security personnel in the Rajya Sabha, fling papers and sit on tables – was circulated widely on social media. The video also showed some marshals pushing some lawmakers as they tried to storm the well of the House.
The Centre lined up an array of Union ministers -- Anurag Thakur, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Pralhad Joshi, Bhupendra Yadav, Arjun Ram Meghwal and V Muraleedharan – who took turns to lash out at the Opposition.
Accusing the opposition leaders of manhandling marshals, Goyal, also Leader of House in Rajya Sabha, said that the Opposition’s approach of “my way or highway is highly condemnable” and the country also condemns such attitude.
Goyal said the group of ministers met the chairman and deputy chairman of the House and made an “earnest” appeal that the strongest possible action should be taken against the opposition MPs for their “deplorable behaviour” and manhandling marshals.
Joshi, the parliamentary affairs minister, accused the
Opposition of “literally threatening that if (the government attempts to pass more) bill, there will be even more damage done”. He alleged that it was pre-decided by Congress and its allies that they would not allow Parliament to function.
Hours before, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and nearly a dozen other Opposition leaders gathered outside Parliament after a protest march over the early adjournment of the Monsoon Session, and called on Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu to file a complaint on the alleged assault on women MPs.
Top leaders of several opposition parties -- including Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Sanjay Raut, Tiruchi Siva and Manoj Jha -met in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and then walked in protest from Parliament House to Vijay Chowk.
“The Parliament session is over. Frankly, as far as 60% of the country is concerned, there has been no Parliament session because the voice of 60% of this country has been crushed, humiliated and yesterday in the Rajya Sabha (the MPs were) physically beaten,” Gandhi charged.
A joint statement by 11 opposition leaders also slammed the government for its “authoritarian attitude” and accused it of “deliberately derailing” the session despite the Opposition having “conveyed (the need) to discuss important national issues” such as the Pegasus snooping controversy.
“What happened in Rajya Sabha yesterday was shocking, unprecedented, sad and an insult to the very dignity of the House and humiliation of the members of the august House,” the statement said.
They Opposition alleged that without any provocation, “outsiders who were not part of Parliament security were brought in to manhandle the Opposition leaders and members, including women Parliamentarians who were only protesting against the Government’s conduct, highhandedness and muzzling of the voice”.
“The Opposition strongly condemns the authoritarian attitude and undemocratic actions of the Government. We remain committed to continue our struggle against the assault on Parliamentary democracy and agitate the issues of national importance and people’s concern,” the joint statement said.
At the protest march too, Gandhi alleged that “for the first time in Rajya Sabha MPs were beaten up, after bringing people from outside”, and added that “it is the chairman’s and Speaker’s responsibility to run the House”.
Echoing Gandhi, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said, “The way people were brought and deployed as marshals in Rajya Sabha. I felt like marshal law was imposed and I felt like I was standing at Pakistan border as I was stopped from going inside.”
Union minister Piyush Goyal, at the press conference, denied that any “outsider” was brought into the Houses, saying Marshals neither belong to the ruling side nor the opposition and alleged that it was a woman marshal who was in fact manhandled by those members.
He said Sharad Pawar, who first raised the allegation that outsiders were called in to manhandle opposition leaders, was probably “wrongly informed” and also asked the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief to introspect on the behaviour of his “colleagues in Opposition”.
The Secretary General’s table in Rajya Sabha is not meant for dancing and protesting, Union minister Anurag Thakur said at the press conference, referring to an incident when an opposition leader was seen above a table inside the Upper House.
Thakur alleged that “anarchy from streets to Parliament” was the Opposition’s only agenda during the monsoon session.
The monsoon session of Parliament, characterised by strident protests by the Opposition, repeated disruptions that made it among the worst sittings in terms of time, a focused and accelerated push of key laws by the government, and plain acrimony, came to a premature end on Wednesday when it was adjourned ahead of schedule.
By legislation, it was a good session.
The government successfully managed to introduce 15 bills and get Parliament’s approval for 20, although this meant some were passed in minutes with no one other than the minister in charge speaking. By time, it was a bad session. The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha functioned for just 22% and 28% of their allocated time, respectively.
The Lok Sabha used just 21 hours and 14 minutes of the stipulated time of 96 hours -the lowest since the winter session of 2016, when opposition parties took on the government over demonetisation.
The Rajya Sabha used 28 hours 21 minutes out of its stipulated 102 hours.