New Delhi, February 5 (IANS) There was a huge uproar in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday when the opposition parties raised the issue related to the Lok Sabha in the House. The opposition said that the Leader of Opposition was not allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha, and in protest against this they have expressed their views in the Rajya Sabha. However, the ruling party expressed strong objection to this. The government said that raising the proceedings of the Lok Sabha in the Rajya Sabha is against the rules, because both the houses of the Parliament work independently.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said in the House that the democratic principles of the country run from the Parliament and Parliament does not mean just one house, but both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Referring to the Constitution, Mallikarjun Kharge said that there is a bicameral system in India and both the houses have equal importance.
Responding to this, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the opposition is deliberately adopting a strategy to disrupt the Prime Minister’s speech. Rijiju asked what kind of politics is this and why is this issue being raised suddenly today. He said that this is a well-planned technique of the opposition, due to which the proceedings of the House are being stalled.
At the same time, Kharge said that if the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha is being prevented from speaking, then it is an attempt to silence not just one person but the entire opposition. He said that the Leader of Opposition wanted to speak today on serious topics like the country and international situation, but he was not given the opportunity.
In response to this, the ruling party again reiterated that the proceedings of the Lok Sabha cannot be discussed in the Rajya Sabha and clear decisions on this issue have been given several times in the past by the Chairman and the Bench. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on this subject that it is completely wrong to say that both the Houses work together and if one House is adjourned, the other one is automatically adjourned.
Rijiju said that if the opposition shows a rule which states that as soon as the Lok Sabha is adjourned, the Rajya Sabha is also adjourned, then the government is ready to accept it. He clearly said that both the Houses of Parliament together constitute the Parliament, but their proceedings and rules are different. Regarding the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, he said that he was given full time to speak.
After this, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also presented her views in the Rajya Sabha. She said that she fully respects the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, but some of the words used by him are not in accordance with parliamentary decorum. The Finance Minister especially objected to the use of the word ‘lynching’ and said that it is not right to make such comments.
He said that if there is talk of lynching, it should also be remembered that the incident of murder of a tailor had taken place during the Congress government in Rajasthan. Nirmala Sitharaman said that such incidents have happened during the Congress rule, on which questions are being raised today. The ruling party and the opposition came face to face on this issue in the Lok Sabha.
Opposition MPs said that Parliament is the biggest platform of democracy and if the voice of opposition is suppressed there, then it is against democratic values. Other opposition MPs said that they are protesting that the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha was prevented from speaking on the country and the current situation.
On this matter, the noise in the House increased and the opposition walked out of the House. During the entire incident, the atmosphere in the Rajya Sabha was extremely noisy and uproar. On one hand the opposition kept talking about democracy, freedom of expression and rights of the opposition, while on the other hand the government rejected the allegations of the opposition citing rules, tradition and parliamentary procedure.
–IANS
GCB/DCH
