Parliament Deadlock – Only 5 percent work in 5 days, everyone’s political issues are different… Will Parliament run peacefully after ‘all-party trust’? – Only five percent work in five days everyone political issues are different Will Parliament run peacefully after all party meet NTC
The week-long deadlock in Parliament ended on Monday when the government and the opposition reached an agreement. Its result was seen with the announcement of dates for special discussion on the Constitution in both the Houses. There has been no work in both the Houses of Parliament since the winter session started on November 25. In both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the opposition was adamant on the demand of discussion on issues like allegations against Adani Group in America, Sambhal violence and ongoing unrest in Manipur.
In a meeting of leaders of all parties called by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday, both the government and the opposition parties agreed to a special discussion on the Constitution during the session. Expressing confidence that both the Houses will function smoothly from Tuesday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Lok Sabha will debate the Constitution on December 13-14, while the Rajya Sabha will discuss it on December 16-17. Rijiju, who attended the meeting, told reporters that the opposition parties had demanded a discussion on the issue on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution by the Constituent Assembly.
Parliament remained disrupted in the first week on Adani issue
Earlier in the day, several opposition MPs met Speaker Om Birla, demanding a discussion on the Constitution and urging him to fix a date for it. Meanwhile, opposition members continued their protest in both the Houses over the Adani impeachment case, Sambhal violence and other issues, leading to repeated disruptions in the proceedings. Ultimately the proceedings of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned for the day. The first week of the session was wasted due to Congress’s insistence on discussing the Adani dispute and the government’s reluctance to accept it.
The country’s Parliament, which is run on public money, could function only five percent in the first week of the winter session. During this period, only 69 minutes of work could be done in the Lok Sabha. On the opening day of the session on 25 November, the Lok Sabha lasted for 6 minutes. It was decided on the very first day that how the rioters of Parliament were going to fulfill the responsibility given to them by the public. On 27 November, the Lok Sabha lasted for 15 minutes. The situation remained the same the next day also. The Lok Sabha could function for 20 minutes on 29 November and 13 minutes on 2 December. Rajya Sabha lasted for 33 minutes on 25 November and 14 minutes on 27 November. The Upper House functioned for 17 minutes on 28 November and adjourned for 13 minutes on 29 November. The proceedings lasted for 17 minutes on 2 December.
Lok Sabha lasted only 69 minutes in 5 days
In this way, Lok Sabha lasted for 69 minutes and Rajya Sabha for 94 minutes in 5 days. Let us tell you here that it costs Rs 1.5 crore every hour to run the Parliament. At a time when, after winning the presidential elections in a country like America, Trump has given the responsibility that there should be no unnecessary expenditure. Then it seems as if the politicians in the Parliament of our country have put their responsibilities on the peg of politics and have once again made the functioning of the Parliament a hurdle. As a result, till now only 4 percent work has been done in Lok Sabha and 5 percent work has been done in Rajya Sabha. Because everyone’s political issues are different.
Congress wants Adani to be discussed first, whereas TMC wants inflation and Manipur to be discussed. Samajwadi Party MPs say that the issue is bigger than Adani, hence the discussion should be on it. In this Mahabharata of issues, Parliament came to a standstill in the first week of the winter session. When four-five percent of the work was seen being done in both the Houses in five days, the Speaker called an all-party meeting. In the meeting with Om Birla, the party and the opposition agreed that Parliament will function peacefully from Tuesday. If sources are to be believed, in the morning meeting before the commencement of the Parliament meeting on Monday, there was a consensus among the Congress MPs that stopping discussions and proceedings in this manner is not helping the interest of the party.
Congress changed its strategy under pressure from fellow parties
Even in the meeting of India Bloc leaders, the Left parties took the stand that the opposition’s current strategy of protest in the House is not working. Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was also present in this meeting. As a large section of the opposition was keen to participate in the functioning of both the Houses to raise several issues, the Congress leadership was forced to change its strategy and break the deadlock. In the meeting of Congress leaders held at the residence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge in the evening, the party decided to unite the opposition MPs to stage a protest on the Adani issue at the Makar Gate of the Parliament House before the commencement of the House meeting on Tuesday.
However, BJP leaders said that the party has already demanded a discussion on the Constitution. A BJP leader said, ‘We had made this demand in the first Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting of this winter session itself. We wanted a proper discussion on the Constitution and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also likely to speak on it. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh accused the government of allegedly showing no interest in running the Parliament. He said, ‘Even today both the houses were adjourned. India Bloc parties had given notice for immediate discussion on Adani, Manipur, Sambhal and Ajmer. These (opposition) parties did not do any movement. There was hardly any sloganeering from our side. But the Modi government did not want the Parliament to function.
However, some parties in the India block, especially TMC, did not give the same priority to the Adani dispute as the Congress. Trinamool’s demands discussed several other issues including unemployment, inflation and alleged discrimination by the Center in fund allocation with opposition-ruled states. So far, TMC has not participated in any of the meetings called by Congress to chalk out the India alliance strategy for the session. Rejecting reports of differences in the opposition camp on the Adani issue, Jairam Ramesh said that different parties have different issues, but they are all united on this important matter.
