The government on Friday came in for considerable flak from the Opposition for “unilaterally” deciding to extend the Lok Sabha session by three days and then rubbing salt in the wound by telling the media first before taking members into confidence.
The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs on Thursday decided to extend the session — earlier scheduled to close on Friday — by three days till May 13.
The issue held up proceedings for a greater part of the morning, resulting in two adjournments during question hour and an unscheduled discussion on the extension which saw Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu explain that the government had no hand in the media learning about this even before the members.
The Minister said he had been unable to communicate the extension to members till late in the night because of his own preoccupation in the Rajya Sabha.
Conscious that criticism of the extension of the session could be used by the government to show that the Opposition was running away from parliamentary work, the Opposition parties sought to underline the fact that they were essentially questioning the arbitrary style of decision-making and the practical problems involved.
