Congress accuses govt of pushing talaq bill despite absence of its MPS
THE OPPOSITION’S LAST MINUTE EFFORTS TO REACH OUT TO FENCESITTERS SUCH AS ALL INDIA ANNA DRAVIDA MUNNETRA KAZHAGAM (AIADMK) AND BIJU JANATA DAL (BJD) YIELDED LITTLE RESULT
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday accused the National Democratic Alliance government of “cheating” to clear the Triple Talaq Bill through the Rajya Sabha in a hurry, after many Opposition MPS failed to turn up or vote against the legislation.
Four senior Congress MPS— Vivek Krishna Tankha, Ranjeeb Biswal, Mukut Mithi and Pratap Singh Bajwa -- were missing in action on Tuesday when the RS passed the contentious bill by a majority vote, 99 to 84.
“I called this cheating. You cannot run parliament like this. We have also raised the issue in parliament. This is undemocratic” Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said. He added that the government initially asked the Opposition to give a preferred list of bills that should be referred to a select committee. The Opposition gave top priority to Triple Talaq bill and amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA.
“The government did not tell the Opposition whether the bill was sent to the select committee or not,” Azad added, suggesting that the Congress and other parties may not have insisted on their members being present in the house assuming that the bill would be sent to the panels.
The Congress, however, also did some soul-searching after four of its members were not present during the voting, at least two senior party MPS said.
Tankha, a renowned lawyer, took the permission of senior party leaders to go to Bilaspur to fight a case for industrialist Naveen Jindal. Tankha added that he got a message from the party on Tuesday morning but “there was no way I could have returned as the flight to Delhi was at 5 PM.”
Former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Mukut Mithi too, was unaware that the Triple Talaq bill was to be taken up on Tuesday. “I was not in Delhi on Tuesday. I had to come to my home state for some important work. I informed my party that I would not be able to come.”
Former Punjab state Congress chief Pratap Bajwa said he had a pre-scheduled programme in Bengaluru. “Please don’t read too much into it as my wife and I are at the Jindal‘s (a naturopathy centre) in Bangalore. Our program was planned according to the earlier session of parliament which was to end on the July 26 .”
Former Indian cricket selector Ranjib Biswal could not be reached for comment. A Congress leader said that he too, was not in Delhi.
Trinamool Congress floor leader Derek O’brien refused to find any fault with the Congress and said that questions should be asked of some regional parties why their MPS didn’t come to vote (despite being present in Delhi). He also blamed the NDA for listing the bill in the revised list of business late in the evening on Monday, giving less than 24 hours for the parties to prepare for debate.
The Opposition’s last minute efforts to reach out to fence-sitters such as All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) yielded little result.