Govt seeks Oppn cooperation for smooth Budget session
NEW DELHI: The government sought cooperation from Opposition members to smoothly pass the Union budget and other important agenda on Friday, even as parties such as the Congress, DMK, AIMIM and the Left demanded a debate on the new agriculture laws and that the government must listen to them.
During an all-party meeting, all parties assured Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla that they will help in the smooth running of the Lok Sabha in the budget session. But the political undercurrent over the farm laws was palpable after 18 Opposition parties boycotted the President’s speech and stormed to the Well of the House shouting slogans on day one of the budget session.
In the opening remarks, Birla pointed out that the Lok Sabha had high productivity in the past four sessions as members cooperated.
While parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi and his junior minister Arjun Meghwal repeatedly sought help to clear the general budget, a constitutional obligation, the Congress’s Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury demanded a debate on farm issues. “It can’t be that forces are being used against farmers camping outside and we will stay silent,” Chowdhury said, demanding more space for the Opposition to push calling attention motions and other issues.
DMK leader TR Baalu assured him of cooperation but demanded a debate on the human rights situation of the Sri Lankan Tamils.
National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah reminded the speaker that peace can only prevail in the House when the government “respects and listens” to the Opposition. Farooq said the Opposition MPS were also elected members of the House.
AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi slammed the government over the farm laws and said the farmer protests were going on as the government didn’t send the bill to a select committee for review and “undermined the credibility” of Parliament. CPIM’S PR Natarajan demanded that the new labour laws be amended.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a similar request to all the MPS during his address earlier in the day.