PM Modi responsible for Parliament washout, complain Opposition

In the midst of persistent propaganda that the Opposition held Parliament to ransom, that the Opposition stalled both Houses leading to a virtual wash-out of the winter session and that though the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley were prepared to speak in Parliament, it was the Opposition which did not want a discussion on demonetisation in Parliament, the Opposition sought to set the record straight on Friday.

In a memorandum submitted to the President, the combined Opposition highlighted the following points:

• Contrary to Parliamentary convention and procedure, the Prime Minister did not make a Suo Moto statement on Demonetisation on the first day of the winter session on November 16.
• The Government did not agree to a discussion on the subject in the Lok Sabha under Rule 56
• Nor did the Government agree to a discussion under Rule 184 and blocked the Adjournment Motion moved by the Opposition
• Even when the Opposition offered to have a discussion setting aside all rules and with no precondition, the Treasury benches stalled the Lok Sabha at the behest of senior ministers. Opposition leaders pointed out that members on the treasury benches were seen with placards in the House, shouting slogans and drowning voices of opposition members
• On the very first day of the session on November 16, the Opposition did initiate a discussion on Demonetisation but the Government paid no heed to the Opposition’s demand that the Prime Minister be present in the House, listen to the debate and provide answers to questions raised
• The Government’s insistence that the Prime Minister would only intervene but not respond to questions derailed any further discussion in the Rajya Sabha.
• The Prime Minister has been claiming outside Parliament that he was not being allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha, which amounted to misleading the nation
• The undignified attacks by the Prime Minister who spared no opportunity outside to blame the Opposition for standing with the corrupt and those with black money vitiated the process of dispassionate discussion inside the Parliament

After calling on the President, Opposition leaders while briefing the media pointed out that the Bharatiya Janata Party did enjoy a brute majority in the Lok Sabha. “There never was any question of the Government losing out on a vote in the House,” explained an MP who did not want to be named, “but the ‘Division’ or voting in the House would have exposed the BJP MPs who would have found it difficult to defend themselves in their own constituencies”.

So while the Opposition strategy was to force a ‘Division’ in the Lok Sabha and insist that the Prime Minister sit through the discussion and reply to questions raised, the Government was equally adamant that the Prime Minister would only speak at his convenience. And since there is no rule to force the Prime Minister to sit through any debate, the Government took the stand that to demand the PM’s presence throughout the debate was unreasonable.

What has irked the Opposition even more is the Prime Minister speaking freely and frequently both in the country and outside. What’s more, whenever he willed, television channels obligingly broadcast his speeches live during this period. But while his monologue was magnified by the media, the mainstream media did not appear disturbed by the Prime Minister pointedly ignoring the Parliament in session.