New Delhi, July 19 (IANS). Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday defended the central government’s decision to invite members of the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) to the all-party meeting ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament. He said that the opposition has every right to walkout but it is not right to keep 20 elected MPs out of the discussion.
The development occurred after the ‘India’ block walked out of the all-party meeting called by the Centre. He had protested against the presence of members of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) rebel faction Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI).
Speaking to reporters about the walkout, Rijiju said, “That boycott was for some time; it was formal. I don’t think it is bad because they have the right to express their opinion. 20 Lok Sabha MPs of NCPI have signed and demanded the Speaker of the Lok Sabha to join the new party and sit separately in the Parliament. It is as per the rules and it is under the consideration of the Speaker.”
Emphasizing on the importance of 20 MPs, Union Minister Rijiju said, “When the matter is under consideration of the Speaker and there are 20 MPs, how can we deprive them? Lok Sabha belongs to everyone so we will not call 20 MPs; how can this happen? Recognizing them or not is a process. Whatever happens from the Lok Sabha Speaker’s secretariat, I am not commenting right now on that.”
He said the government had invited all parties represented in Parliament and had not sent any special invite to the NCPI.
He said, “It is the duty of the government that if all the parties come together and there is a consensus, we would like, so we have to call everyone. I am not calling anyone separately; since their members are there and they have demands. We are not calling anyone separately from our side; they are Lok Sabha members, so they have to be called.”
He said that 40 floor leaders from various political parties attended the all-party meeting and expressed their views on the issues to be discussed during the monsoon session.
According to Rijiju, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh appealed to all political parties to work together in the national interest. Especially in view of the current global uncertainties arising from the conflict in West Asia.
He said, “Many political parties have put forth their views; we have heard them and noted them. Many suggestions have come; we have noted those suggestions… You must have seen that if any political party just raises slogans instead of discussing a topic, it suffers political loss. Everyone has seen this… If any political party stays away from the discussion and creates ruckus, it does not get any political benefit from it. This has been proved. Therefore, everyone should participate in the discussion, and Members of smaller parties have demanded that they be given more time to speak.”
The Parliamentary Affairs Minister said that if the session runs smoothly, everyone will be able to present their views; But “if they create a ruckus, they won’t get a chance to speak.”
He said, “Then later the government should not be told that (it) was passed after little discussion, or it was passed amid uproar… The people of the country want Parliament to function, and if Parliament does not function, it is not good for democracy.”
Rijiju said that the government has already given information about the eight bills proposed for the monsoon session through the official bulletin issued by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats.
He said that if the government decides to bring any more laws during the session, the matter will first be discussed in the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) and all opposition parties will be informed in advance.
–IANS
SCH/PM
