With Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar ruling out an adjournment motion on prices, the Opposition will now work on a strategy to raise the debate under another rule, but not before the BJP consults other parties.
The Opposition charged that the government was not sure of its numbers, and, therefore, did not want a discussion which would end with a vote, but Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal dismissed this claim as rubbish. “Whenever there is a vote, you will see the government establishing its majority easily.”
Even Opposition leaders admitted that they were not keen on facing a general election, he said, referring to what Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav had said without naming him.
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Making the task easier for the government was the Left decision against continued disruption of Parliament on the issue — thus signalling its willingness to take up the subject under rule 193, which entails no voting.
Dharna today
D. Raja of the Communist Party of India and Basudev Acharia of the CPI(Marxist) indicated that their parties would not like to continue disrupting proceedings but would mark their protest against the government's inability to check the back-breaking prices by sitting in dharna inside the Parliament House on Thursday.
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Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav said the government was “arrogant.” It ought to have accepted the adjournment motion that was related to the sufferings of the common people who were “dying” unable to buy food at high prices.
After the Speaker rejected the demand, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj told journalists that she would consult other party leaders before the start of parliamentary proceedings on Thursday to decide what course of action to take. She was replying to a question whether the BJP would drop the discussion on prices altogether or settle for a debate under a milder rule.
The BJP, it would seem, was keen on keeping the Opposition unity intact. Inflation was an issue which united the Right and the Left as well as the SP, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the JD (U).
Ms. Swaraj expressed her disappointment that the Speaker had rejected the BJP motion, which was “carefully drafted keeping in mind the requirements of the rule.”