NOW, QUESTION HOUR CANCELLED IN BENGAL
Netizens question TMC MPs on decision
The West Bengal Assembly has decided to do away with the question hour during the upcoming two-day monsoon session on September 9-10. The decision was taken by Speaker Biman Banerjee on the grounds of shortage of time and the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic situation.
Questions were being raised by netizens on the Trinamool Congress (TMC) raising objections on the cancellation of the Question Hour in Parliament and why questions had to be given 15 days in advance and in writing. A few days later, the ruling TMC in West Bengal decided to do away with the Question Hour due to shortage of time.
Netizens took potshots at TMC MPs Derek Obrien and
Mahua Moitra questioning their move to target the decision to do away with the Question Hour in the Parliament. In his tweet Obrien had questioned, “You don’t allow #QuestionHour where ministers have to stand up and answer Qs from MPs and be held accountable. Now you only condescend to allow written questions/answers! Stop throwing crumbs. This is #Parliament Not the Gujarat Gymkhana.”
Moitra’s tweet reads, “Asking questions in court is contempt. Asking questions outside Parliament is sedition. And now, asking questions inside Parliament is forbidden.”
Some netizens were of another view. “There was no question hour in 62, 71 and 75. All under the Congress regime. Did we hear anything from liberals?, read one tweet.
However, Obrien later clarified to netizens in his tweet. “North Korean godi TV comparing a 20-day regular #ParliamentMonsoonSession to a two-day session of a State Assembly! Sessions of a few days in #Parliament NEVER have #QuestionHour (except China war 1962). Don’t compare apples and oranges. Research. Or come to us for a tutorial,” Obrien tweeted, asking not to compare the West Bengal Assembly Speaker’s decision to that of the stand taken in Parliament.
Covid-19 pandemic, China and economy — when questions will not be asked on these matters, what is the point in holding such a Parliament session? If we cannot raise the question about people’s difficulties, then what is the relevance of such a session? — Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Cong RS MP