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:
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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.
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