Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan got an assurance from Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday that the government would try and initiate a dialogue with the Opposition to break the deadlock in Parliament.
However, there were no signs of a breakthrough with the Opposition remaining adamant on its demand for the resignations of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and two BJP Chief Ministers.
At the end of an all-party meeting convened by her, Ms. Mahajan made it clear that her limited objective was to ensure that MPs do not storm the Well of the House or display placards. Such demonstrations reflected badly on the MPs, particularly as schoolchildren were often present in the Visitors’ Gallery.
On the protests in the House, Ms. Mahajan conceded during a media interface that this was not unprecedented, but asked, “Should we allow such things to continue just because they have happened in the past.’’ Earlier, Congress Leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge quoted BJP veteran L.K. Advani, Ms. Swaraj and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as saying in 2012, when they were in the Opposition, that “disruptions are part and parcel of the democratic process”.
Govt. does not want Parliament to function, says Opposition
Congress Leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said here on Thursday that the government had not spoken to any Opposition party on the demand for the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and two BJP Chief Ministers, and it did not want Parliament to function.
He echoed the Opposition viewpoint that the onus on ensuring that Parliament functioned lay with the government.
At an all-party meeting convened by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Mr. Kharge said that while everyone was focussing on the conduct of the Opposition, no one was examining the cause — the fact that the government was unwilling to seek Ms. Swaraj’s resignation following her involvement in the Lalit Modi controversy. To this, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that prima facie , there was no case against Ms. Swaraj. Besides she had offered to make a statement in the House on the subject but had not been given that opportunity by the Opposition.
Earlier in the day, the sense that emerged in Opposition circles was that the Modi government, unwilling to concede any ground on resignations, was trying to change the optics through its focus on the death of former President A.P J. Abdul Kalam. Opposition sources told The Hindu that suspending the Lok Sabha virtually for three days was excessive and the real objective was to avoid confrontation with the Opposition.
The government, the sources said, was not at all keen on ensuring the functioning of Parliament, pointing out that it was unusual to see members of the ruling party protesting in Parliament — a point made by Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien in the Rajya Sabha at least twice this session.
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh objected to the fact that the Lok Sabha Speaker had not permitted MPs to pay their tributes to Mr. Kalam.
After she made obituary references to him in the House on Thursday morning, she immediately adjourned the Lok Sabha till Friday morning. This, he said, was a violation of parliamentary practice.
