T-tangle: Furore over suspension stalls LS
The ‘targeted’ MPS raised such a ruckus and were supported by a unified Opposition to such an extent that in the resultant chaos, even a voice vote could not be had
The UPA government’s ambitious plans to get the Food Security Ordinance replaced by a bill within the statutory period have been converted into an obstacle race.
Backstage parleys between the government and the Opposition seem to have paved the way for a possible discussion on the bill in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. But there was the matter of 11 Andhra MPs- seven from the Congress, and four from the TDP- who have been disrupting the House right from the day the monsoon session began on August 5. With their relentless chant in favour of a unified Andhra and against Telangana, they have made the proceedings almost impossible.
The government had then taken the drastic the decision of suspending these 11 MPs for the rest of the session, and accordingly such a motion was moved by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath. The ‘targeted MPs raised such a ruckus and were supported by a unified Opposition to such an extent that in the resultant chaos, even a voice vote could not be had, and Speaker Meira Kumar had to abruptly adjourn the House.
‘The motion is in abeyance”, she said later. Now with the suspension plans failing to take off, the matters have got further complicated and the government faces an uphill task.
Even otherwise the Opposition has the government on the mat on the issue of missing coalgate files. There has been a demand that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should make a statement on the subject as the missing files pertain to the period when he was looking after the Coal Ministry.
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister for State Rajeev Shukla did hint at the possibility of the Prime Minister’s intervention. He said: “PM, if required, may intervene.”
But the Opposition blamed the government for the present crisis in Parliament. BJP’s deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad observed that the government should rein its own members. “Instead of trying to suspend them with our support and firing the gun from our shoulders, it should control its own members,” he said.
All the Opposition parties have been steadfastly opposing the suspension of members who disrupt the House, and they have been arguing that the onus for the smooth functioning of Parliament rests on the government.
“The members disrupt the House when they have no other option left,” said a