New Delhi: The Samajwadi Party yesterday assured Speaker Sumitra Mahajan that it would not join the protests led by the Congress in the Lok Sabha.
SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav conveyed this to the speaker during a meeting after the first adjournment of the Lok Sabha in the morning.
Mahajan called the meeting with representatives of all political parties in the Lok Sabha to find a way out of the logjam in the lower house.
In the Lok Sabha, when it became clear that the house would not be able to function for yet another day as opposition members protested near the speaker’s podium with placards and shouted slogans, Yadav suggested that the speaker hold a meeting with MPs to find a way out.
“You have to ensure that the house functions. This is happening because you have not spoken to anybody,” Mulayam Singh Yadav said. Mahajan said she had already spoken to the members of various parties and was still ready to do so immediately if they agreed.
“You just ask them (Congress) whether they are ready. I will adjourn the house immediately and call you,” Mahajan said. Amid the ruckus, the speaker then adjourned the house till noon.
The meeting was attended by Yadav, his nephew and party colleague Dharmendra Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav, Aam Aadmi Party’s Bhagwant Mann, Trinamool Congress and Nationalist Congress Party.
According to sources, Yadav said the Samajwadi Party wants the house to function and it won’t support the Congress protests.
He also said the house cannot function according to the whims and fancies of the Congress leadership.
Meanwhile, The Rajya Sabha yesterday witnessed heated arguments between opposition and treasury benches over the ongoing logjam in both houses of parliament with both sides sticking to their stands.
The Rajya Sabha, which was adjourned twice till 2pm., was finally adjourned for the day after an uproar in the post-lunch session.
The Congress, supported by some other opposition parties, has been demanding the resignations of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje over their association with the former Indian Premier League chairman Lalit Modi, while Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is embroiled in the Vyapam scam controversy.
When the house reassembled at 2 pm Deputy Chairman P J Kurien allowed Janata Dal-United member K C Tyagi to raise a matter under rule 267.
Tyagi said the union government appointed Ram Nath Kovind as the Bihar governor but did not take Chief Minister Nitish Kumar into confidence.
Soon after, the Congress members again trooped into the well of the house shouting slogans against the government and displaying placards.
Amid the din, Kurien adjourned the house for the day.
When the house met in the morning, Kurien allowed papers to be tabled and then permitted Leader of the Opposition, Ghulam Nabi Azad, to speak. Azad accused the government of not making any attempt to end the logjam for the last three weeks.
“An impression is being created outside the house that the government has reached out to the opposition members to break the ongoing logjam, which is far from true,” Azad said.
“No one from the government has ever met any of the Congress leaders to break the logjam. In fact, we have received phone calls from the government and that too on the suspension of the 25 Congress members from the Lok Sabha and not on the stalemate in parliament,” he added.
Azad criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not taking into confidence the chief ministers of different states before taking any decision regarding these states. Azad said that the government was making a mockery of cooperative federalism.
“When the Naga peace accord was signed, none of the chief ministers concerned were taken into confidence. Two days back, governors for Bihar and Himachal Pradesh were appointed but neither chief minister was taken into confidence,” the Congress leader said.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, leader of the house, denied the opposition allegations.
Soon after Jaitley stood up to speak, Congress members trooped into the well of the house and shouted slogans against the Narendra Modi government.
Amid the din, Jaitley said: “I strongly refute the charges levelled by the leader of the opposition. We tried several times to break the logjam but the Congress has decided it will not allow the house to function.”
“Their chief ministers welcomed the Naga peace accord through their tweets that were deleted after pressure from their leadership,” he said.
After Jaitley spoke, Kurien allowed Janata Dal-United member K C Tyagi to speak. As he stood up, Congress members stopped shouting slogans and went back to their seats.
Jaitley objected to this behaviour of the Congress members.
“The government was not allowed to speak by the Congress members. This is the selective approach of the Congress. Is this the way to conduct the house,” the finance minister asked. Kurien responded by saying: “Selective blocking is not acceptable. I have never seen such practice.”
Amidst heated arguments between opposition and treasury benches, Congress leader from Andhra Pradesh, J Seelam, trooped into the well and stood in front of Jaitley. He along with other Congress members from Andhra Pradesh was demanding a special status for the state.
IANS
