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Parliament was paralysed today for the third consecutive day with the united Opposition demanding a debate with voting on the price rise, unfazed by the rejection of an Adjournment Motion.
Seeking to mount pressure on the government, the opposition parties created pandemonium in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha outside the House where protests were staged.
The BJP, led by senior leader L K Advani, marched to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to highlight their demands on inflation while the Left, TDP, RJD, BJD and AIADMK staged a dharna in the Parliament House complex. The Samajwadi Party held a separate protest.
In both the Houses, it was trouble from word go as the Opposition led by the BJP, SP and BSP raised slogans against inflation and demanded discussion under a rule that entails voting.
In the Lok Sabha, members from the NDA and SP stormed the Well as soon as the House assembled for the day. Speaker Meira Kumar had yesterday rejected notices for Adjournment Motion, saying the issue of price rise did not relate to failure of the government’s constitutional duties.
She had said the debate on the price rise may take place under any rule other than Adjournment Motion in this regard. In view of this, the Opposition changed tactic and pushed for debate under Rule 184 which also entails voting.
Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj demanded suspension of Question Hour and immediate discussion under Rule 184.
Swaraj said the Opposition members were “saddened” by the Speaker’s decision to disallow Adjournment Motion moved by them.
“Since you had said the issue of price rise can be discussed under any other rule, we want the Question Hour to be set aside and discussion on the matter taken up immediately,” she said.
NDA Convener and JD(U) President Sharad Yadav said the Opposition is faced with a dilemma on how to confront the Speaker.
“After a lot of thought we have decide to give a notice for discussion under Rule 184,” Yadav said.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said the government had never shied away from discussion on any issue and pointed out that the opposition members have made their point during the 90-minute discussion yesterday.
As the Opposition insisted on discussion under Rule 184, Bansal said that since Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay had given a notice under Rule 193 (which does not entail voting) on July 27, it should get precedence.
Though food inflation fell to single digit and stood at 9.6 per cent, it is still considered high for comfort of the common man.
Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav said opposition members were not in favour of disruption of proceedings of the House but their demands should be met. Asking
the Speaker to protect the Opposition, he said, “Never before has the entire Opposition joined hands to demand discussion on an issue. Since the entire opposition is speaking in one voice, discussion under Rule 184 should be allowed.”
Citing rules, the Speaker said she would examine the notices given by the opposition and refer the matter to the Business Advisory Committee.
At this stage the entire Opposition trooped into the Well and the Speaker adjourned the House till noon.
Similar scenes were witnessed again when the House reassembled. Amid din, the House adopted a resolution approving imposition of President’s Rule in Jharkhand.
Soon after, the Speaker adjourned the House for the day.
In the Rajya Sabha too, the Opposition parties aggressively raised their demands as soon as the House assembled for the day.
After Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh took oath as a member of the House, Chairman Hamid Ansari took up the questions listed for the day.
S S Ahluwalia (BJP) immediately got up and said the Opposition has been pressing for a discussion on the issue under a rule that entails voting, but there has been no response from the government.
He was supported by other Opposition members, including those belonging to the BSP, which supports the government from outside.
Though the Chairman asked them to take their seats, the opposition members trooped into the well, leading to the adjournment of the House till 12 noon.
When the House resumed, the BJP members again resorted to slogan-shouting describing the government as “incompetent”. They were joined by other parties, including the Left and LJP. SP and RJD, which support the government from outside, also participated in the protests.
In the din, the House adopted a resolution approving President’s Rule in Jharkhand.
Soon after, it was adjourned for the day.
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BJP MPs Meet President, Submit Crores Of Signatures
A delegation of BJP MPs and senior leaders today met President Pratibha Patil and submitted a memorandum and crores of signatures as part of its campaign against “abject failure of the UPA government” to control price rise.
“We held a successful Bharat Bandh against price rise some days back. Out MPs and state unit leaders have submitted nearly 10 crore signatures to the President. I can say that we have taken all steps we should take in our role as the main opposition on this issue,” BJP Parliamentary Party chief L K Advani said after meeting the President.
He insisted that the BJP MPs have been actively involved in highlighting this issue in Parliament.
“If you do not call it (price rise) government’s failure, then will you call it success? We cannot do more than this on price rise. Now the government has to do the rest (to control prices),” Advani said.
The delegation, which was led by BJP President Nitin Gadkari, consisted of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, her counterpart in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and other senior leaders like Rajnath Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi and Gopinath Munde.
The voluminous signatures were carried in a small truck to Rashtrapati Bhawan by the party.
The BJP, along with other opposition parties, has not allowed the Parliament to function for the last three days demanding discussion and voting on the issue of price rise.
Gadkari said the government had failed to keep its 2009 election promise of controlling prices of essential commodities within 100 days of coming to power
“In the memorandum to the President, we have demanded that food articles should be removed from the Commodities Exchange Forward Trading List and a buffer stock created to ensure food security,” Gadkari said.
He alleged that Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had failed to keep foodgrains safe and these were rotting in godowns.
“Wrong economic policies and bad governance by this government are responsible for price rise,” Gadkari said.
Other demands made in the memorandum are taking steps to bring down prices of wheat, rice, sugar, dal and green vegetables, action against hoarders, black-marketeers, multinational companies and corporate manipulators and giving top priority to agro-economy besides adequate funds for agriculture development and infrastructure.
Proper management of foodgrains and horticulture storage and full-fledged storage plan for next 25 years and changing the present economic policy which is “robbing farmers and looting the common man” besides providing food security are some other demands.
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Non-NDA Opposition Unites To Protest Price Rise
Non-NDA opposition parties today staged a demonstration in the Parliament House complex demanding a discussion on the price rise under rules that provide for voting.
After both Houses of Parliament were adjourned till 12 noon, members from the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) and the Communist Party of India, along with the RJD, the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), the AIADMK and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) staged a protest against rising prices.
“The Left and secular parties have come together against the government. which has failed completely on the price rise front,” CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said.
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