Hitting hard at the Opposition for their criticism of the NDA government issuing Ordinances at the conclusion of the Winter Session of Parliament, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said the Congress which issued Ordinances despite having full control of Parliament had no right to fault the NDA government on the subject. Addressing party workers at the inauguration of office of Visakhapatnam MP and State BJP president Khambampati Haribabu here on Friday, he said Ordinances are extraordinary legislative instruments provided for in the Constitution to be resorted to in special situations.
The ruling party was forced to take the Ordinance route as the Opposition parties did not allow any discussion to be taken up in Parliament. “The situation has been created by the negative and obstructionist attitude of the Congress and its friends in Parliament. Congress and other parties can grill the government on various issues but should finally enable passing of important proposals,” he said.
He quoted President Pranab Mukherjee’s recent remarks on Ordinances – ‘The cardinal principle of Parliamentary Democracy is that the majority has the mandate to rule while opposition has the right to oppose, expose, and if the numbers permit, to depose. But, under no circumstances should there be disruption of the proceedings. A noisy minority cannot be allowed to gag a patient majority.’
“President is the Custodian of the Constitution and we value his views and suggestions highly,” he said.
