Parliament deadlock continues, 2 bills passed
RUCKUS: Oppn members kept protesting while the bills passed
NEW DELHI: As the deadlock continued for the ninth consecutive day in Parliament, the government on Thursday managed to pass two bills in the Lok Sabha without discussion even as members from different parties were protesting over several issues including the PNB bank fraud and the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
Like the passage of the Finance Bill, 2018 as well as the Appropriation Bill and demands for grants on Wednesday in the Lok Sabha, the two bills — The Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and The Specific Relief (Amendment) Bill, 2017 —were passed by voice vote in the Lower House without any debate amidst din.
Then the House was adjourned for the day. Members from the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), YSR Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) gathered near the speaker’s podium, and kept protesting while the bills were passed.
When the House reassembled after the first adjournment, Minister of State for Labour, Santosh Kumar Gangwar moved The Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which was passed through voice vote in the din. The government then moved The Specific Relief (Amendment) Bill, 2017 which was also passed amid din through voice vote.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day soon after it met after multiple earlier adjournments, amid a ruckus by the Congress, TDP and AIADMK members who thronged near the Chair’s podium shouting slogans and displaying placards.
The Rajya Sabha witnessed noisy scenes as some of the Congress members trooped near the chair’s podium taking exception to the remarks by former union minister and TDP leader Y S Chowdary on the bifurcation of the United Andhra Pradesh.
He alleged that the formation of Andhra Pradesh in February, 2014 was hasty and unscientific. The Congress members strongly protested his remark and forced the chair to adjourn the House.
The situation was not different when it met at 2 pm and again at 3 pm. The Upper House was scheduled to take up the Finance Bill and two Appropriation Bills for discussion and returning to the Lok Sabha.
However, the Bills could not be taken up in the House as the TDP and the AIADMK members created pandemonium. The TDP members have been agitating over the alleged “injustice” meted out to Andhra Pradesh by the Centre by not giving it special status, while the AIADMK has been demanding the constitution of a Cauvery Water Board to look into the Cauvery water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
“The proceedings of the House must not be disrupted under any circumstances. People expect that their elected representatives would raise their issues and actively participate in parliamentary debates,” Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh told reporters seeking cooperation from all political parties to ensure the smooth functioning of Parliament.
Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said that parliament was expected to function but “the allies of the BJP” were not allowing it to.
The proceedings of the House must not be disrupted under any circumstances RAJNATH SINGH Union Home Minister