Senior Congress leader Digivijaya Singh said in the Rajya Sabha on Friday that he had become a “laughing stock” as his substantive motion regarding the role of the Governors of Goa and Manipur had not come up for discussion despite it having been admitted by the chairman. Mr. Singh, who has raised this matter each day in the Zero Hour, claimed that the Leader of the House had not even given him time to meet till now.
“I have become laughing stock. Journalists ask me when I go out and when I return what happened to my substantive motion. The Leader of the House has taken no decision on my substantive motion. How many days are left from Wednesday onwards? Please assure me it will be taken up before this session ends,” he said. “I suggest that the chairman call the Leader of the House and me and fix a time. It is not acceptable if the Leader of the House violates the decision of the chairman.”
Mr. Singh found support from CPI(M) MP Tapan Kumar Sen, who said, “It appears that a vetoing operation is under process so that during the left-out period of the session, the matter could be dodged out.”
Parrikar’s dig
Later, as he bid farewell to the Rajya Sabha, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar “thanked” Mr. Singh, who was the Congress’s pointsman to Goa, for doing nothing in Goa after the results, which gave him a chance to become CM.
“I express my thanks to the Chairman, Deputy Chairman and members of this House for their support during my tenure as the Raksha Mantri [Defence Minister] and invite them to Goa whenever they want to come,” he said.
A special thanks
“My special thanks to honourable member Digvijaya Singh, who happened to be in Goa but did nothing so that I could form the government.”