Opposition stands united as it rejects calls to end Parliamentary stalemate in “closed group” talks
Last updated on December 23rd, 2021 at 12:54 pm
Attempts by the government to initiate “closed group” backchannel talks to end the Parliament impasse has met an abrupt roadblock after the opposition leaders from Congress and TMC (Trinamool Congress) made their stand clear over the recent standoff in the ongoing session in Parliament. The leaders of the opposition have made it clear that they will stand united and have no intention of shunting their demands of lifting the suspension of 12 MPs who were reprimanded for their “unruly behavior”.
On Friday, Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu had called the government and opposition to talk and reach an agreement on the issue of suspended Members of Parliaments that have overcast a shadow on Winter Session since it began on November 29. Following this, an invitation was sent on Sunday to the parties whose MLAs were suspended for their behavior by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi.
But the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjuna Kharge wrote to Prahlad Joshi that his an act of inviting only four parties was “unfair and unfortunate”. “All Opposition parties are united in the protest against the suspension of the 12 MPs.
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We have been requesting from the evening of November 29 itself that either the Chairman of the Raiya Sabha or the Leader of the House Shri Piyush Goyal call leaders of all Opposition parties for a discussion to break the stalemate. This reasonable request of ours has not been agreed to, further inviting only leaders of four Opposition parties instead of inviting leaders of all Opposition parties is unfair and unfortunate,” the senior Congress leader wrote.
Trinamool’s leader in Rajya Sabha, Derek O’Brien tweeted on Sunday, “Monday morning STUNT from a Govt. who do not want #Parliament to function. Govt calls leaders of the 4 Oppn parties whose 12 RS MPs have been arbitrarily suspended. Govt leaves other 10 Oppn parties out. Failed stunt.
ALL OPPN clear: first revoke the arbitrary suspension.”
The stalemate in Parliament has hit the functioning of both houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. In the third week of the Winter Session, the productivity of Rajya Sabha is standing at a low of 37.60 percent, thereby reducing the functionality of the House for the first three weeks of Winter Session to 46.70 percent.
