‘Allow Rahul to speak’: Cong on Parl impasse
A top-ranking official has been informally talking to Opposition leaders to broker a compromise formula under which the government and the Opposition are supposed to set aside their key issues for the smooth running of Parliament, said people aware of developments.
The Congress on Wednesday said if former president Rahul Gandhi is allowed to reply to the allegations levelled against him by Union ministers in the Lok Sabha, the party is willing to discuss ways with the government to end the current impasse in the budget session. The party also said that the demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into allegations of fraud levelled at the Adani Group was non-negotiable.
The Congress’s condition, which the ruling dispensation might find difficult to accept, comes after the past seven days of the Budget session were washed out by protests from the government, which wants Rahul Gandhi to apologise for his comments on democracy and Parliament in the UK, and the Opposition, which wants a JPC. Renewed efforts from Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to break the logjam failed on Tuesday, but the former has called another round of meetings with floor leaders on Thursday at 10am.
A top-ranking official has been informally talking to Opposition leaders to broker a compromise formula under which the government and the Opposition are supposed to set aside their key issues for the smooth running of Parliament, said people aware of developments.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “There are no links between the two demands (Gandhi’s apology and the demand for JPC on Adani). The demand for an apology is a hoax and the JPC demand is non-negotiable. If the government is serious, allow Rahul Gandhi to make a statement. Allow him to refute the baseless charges that have been hurled at him by senior ministers on the floor of the house and then we will talk.”
Opposition leaders see only a slim chance for a middle path to end the logjam. “We do not expect any solution is possible as we will not budge from our stand,” said Republican Socialist Party leader NK Premachandran. Another leader described the compromise solution as a move by a “scared BJP to divide the Opposition unity.”
The government has blamed the Opposition of stalling Parliament and not listening to Birla and Dhankhar.
When asked about efforts to resume smooth functioning, Ramesh said, “The government is disrupting both houses of Parliament. The chairman gave permission to the Leader of the Opposition to speak. The Leader of the Opposition got up twice but he was not allowed to speak. Under these circumstances, what cooperation can we give?”
The party also underlined that Gandhi sought permission from the Speaker to give a reply under Rule 357, but he was not allowed to speak. It highlighted that in his letter to Birla, Gandhi has quoted a 2015 incident when then Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was given an opportunity to make a statement to clarify allegations made against him.
Ramesh said Gandhi’s reply under rule 357 of the Lok Sabha should be the first order of business in Parliament. “It has never happened that a leader of the house disrupts the Rajya Sabha, gets his Members of Parliament to disrupt for a statement made by a member of the Lok Sabha, this has never happened. That is why this whole thing is part of an orchestrated plan to derail and disrupt Parliament, because the government doesn’t want JPC into the Adani issue,” he said.
The party has been posing three questions daily to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Adani row, and completed 100 questions on Wednesday.
HT reached out to BJP leaders for a comment but didn’t get it immediately.
Cong MP gives notice against Rajnath
Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Wednesday moved a notice against Union defence minister Rajnath Singh over his statements on Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha on March 13.
In his notice, Tagore has alleged that Singh “addressed the Lok Sabha, and without offering any advance notice, used defamatory statements against Rahul Gandhi,”
On March 13, Singh while referring to Gandhi’s comments during an interaction at Cambridge University had said, “Rahul Gandhi, who is a member of this House, insulted India in London. I demand that his statements should be condemned by all members of this House (Lok Sabha) and he should be asked to apologize before the House.”
Tagore, a key aide of Gandhi, sent his notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. It said, “The defamatory statement of Rajnath Singh was supported by unfounded allegations and have been repeated by several members of Parliament.”
“Furthermore, what is alarming is the fact such blatant character assassination of an MP is not only being allowed but encouraged since Rahul Gandhi has not been given any opportunity to defend himself or refute allegations raised against him.”
