Parliament proceedings were disrupted for 11 days, finally there seems to be an understanding between the government and Opposition parties and they may get together in the Rajya Sabha to end the conflict.
After 11 days of disruptions that led to almost 83 per cent of working time wasted in Parliament, there seems to be an understanding between the government and Opposition parties after meeting with the Rajya Sabha Chairman.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has held a series of meetings to negotiate peace among the ministers and Opposition leaders. On Tuesday, at a meeting organised by Naidu, the two warring sides agreed on allowing eight items of business, including 7 bills, for passage in the Upper House. For these, 17 hours of debate have been allotted.
According to sources, Naidu started the meeting by again appealing to both sides to enable normal functioning of the House. During the meeting, the government reiterated its willingness to discuss farmers’ issues, price rise and the economic situation in the country.
The legislative business agreed upon between the government and the Opposition includes the Tribunals Reforms Bill, Airports Regulation Authority Bill, General Insurance Nationalisation Amendment Bill, Limited Liability Partnership Amendment Bill, and Deposits Insurance Bill.
The Opposition, however, have kept their demand for a discussion on national security in the context of the Pegasus issue.
Also read: Rajya Sabha Struggles To Function As Govt Refuses To Accept Oppn Demand of Debate On Pegasus
Rajya Sabha Chairman met top ministers and Opposition leaders to bring back order in the House as the Opposition continued disrupting the proceedings demanding a discussion on Pegasus snooping, while the government kept denying all allegations.
On Monday evening, Naidu held a meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Leader of the House Piyush Goyal. Urging the government to discuss ways to end the logjam, Naidu conveyed that a lot of time has been wasted due to the stands taken by the government and the Opposition.
Naidu who has struggled to quite down the Opposition tempers also met the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, after the first adjournment of the House
In the Rajya Sabha, four bills have been passed with discussions on them lasting only 5, 14, 18 and 33 minutes, respectively. Only 15.3 per cent of the sitting time has been used for passing legislation.
The Opposition has been determined on discussing the Pegasus issue, and says will continue protesting, but the government has been rejecting its demands by calling the Pegasus Snoopgate a “manufactured issue” on which the IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has already made a statement.
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