The senior Congress leader said he had never seen that a government “does things during the session or just days before the session so that Parliament does not function”.
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Congress backed by the Left, JD(U) and other opposition parties, on Monday cornered the Centre over imposition of President’s rule in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh, calling it an “assault” on the federal structure. If the opposition also wants to discuss Ishrat Jahan issue, there should not be any problem whatsoever.
Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 pm after uproar by Congress over Uttarakhand issue.
Amid slogans like “Modi sarkar hosh mein aao” (Government must come to senses) and “Shame-shame”, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the government will soon launch a Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Scheme aimed to providing five crore cooking gas connections to rural areas, especially in the name of women for families below poverty line.
The Business Advisory Committee on Monday allocated time for discussion for seven Bills in the Rajya Sabha, and for discussion on the Railways and Finance Bill.
A vociferous Congress on Tuesday sought the expunction of remarks by Leader of Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley against the Uttarakhand Speaker while justifying the imposition of central rule in the state.
With the battle-lines getting sharpened, the government source claimed the BJP was fortifying its defences to answer the Opposition’s charges. Naresh Agrawal (SP) said he too did not agree with the government’s contention that sub-judice matters can not be discussed and said the Chair should take the opinion of the House on initiating a discussion under rule 267.
He said, out of the 101 instances of President’s rule, the Congress used article 356 to impose Central rule as many as 91 times. Though keen that the SC validate its decision to dismiss the Uttarakhand government as this would deny Congress a political victory, the Centre seems ready to concede that getting a parliamentary stamp of approval is hard.
“Attempts are being made to systematically pull down Opposition-ruled State governments to grab power”, he said, accusing the NDA government of “killing the Constitution” even while celebrating Ambedkar’s birth centenary and Constitution Day.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi asked if the Congress party actually wanted a discussion or was looking at disrupting proceedings. Repeated pleas by Deputy Chairman P J Kurien to maintain order fell on deaf ears, forcing him to adjourn the House at 1136 hrs, till 1200 hrs.
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Jaitley highlighted that sub-rule 7 of rule 169 says that “it shall not anticipate discussion of a matter that is likely to be discussed in the same session”.
