The government on Friday decided to call an all-party meeting on Monday to break the > deadlock that has already washed away half of the >monsoon session of Parliament .
This olive branch was extended by the government to all parties an hour after Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu blamed the Congress for stalling India’s growth story by pinning the Parliament impasse on the principal opposition party.
The India Outlook Report — brought out by Moody’s Analytics on Thursday — that India’s political infighting was denting business confidence and delay in key reforms like the >GST and the Land acquisition Bill could hurt India’s medium-to-long-term growth came in as a handy tool for the government to beat the Opposition with. “All responsible stake-holders in India’s development should take such warnings seriously,” Mr. Naidu said.
Just ahead of Mr. Naidu’s detailed briefing — in which he trained his guns primarily on the Congress — the party’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma listed a couple of pre-conditions; chief among them being Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s presence in Parliament and a tangible proposal from the government on how it would act on the Opposition’s demands vis-à-vis corruption charges against External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and two BJP Chief Ministers. “We do not want a meeting just for a photo-op,’’ he added for good measure.
Cong. strategy The Congress is likely to finalise its strategy for the all-party meeting on Monday morning when its parliamentary party is scheduled to meet. On Friday, the party showed no signs of relenting and neither did the government budge from its position; resulting in disruption of proceedings in both Houses.
While Rajya Sabha saw quick adjournments, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan changed tack and refused to adjourn the House even though the Opposition surrounded the Well from both sides and brought even larger placards and posters inside.
As a result, the question hour ran its full course in the Lok Sabha for the first time this session but even the government’s floor managers admitted that conducting business in such a manner was pointless.
In fact, it was clear from the very beginning that the Speaker’s effort to bring order in the House by convening an all-party meeting on Thursday to ensure that members do not picket the Well or hold up placards was an exercise in futility.
The Opposition went around to the Treasury benches and stood in front of a Minister replying to a question. Also, some TRS MPs sought to grab television attention by standing close to members asking questions; knowing full well that the cameras would be focussed there.
Though not all Opposition parties are seeking the resignation of the Union Minister and BJP CMs, they add muscle to the Congress protest by using the opportunity to raise their own issues. If it is a separate High Court for Telangana that the TRS is pushing for, the RJD’s placards demand release of the caste census report. As a result, the government’s efforts to isolate the Congress and the Left has till now failed.
