Both govt., opposition responsible for Parliamentary session washout: RS Speaker

Deputy Speaker of the Rajya Sabha PJ Kurien on Friday said both the government as well as the opposition is responsible for the washout of the entire Budget Session in the Parliament.

Talking to ANI, Kurien said the washout of the Budget Session was "very unfortunate" and that all were responsible for the disruption of the Parliament.

According to the Deputy Speaker, disruptions in the functioning of the Parliament are not a good thing and "unparliamentary".

"Unfortunately, some political parties and MPs feel that when their demands are not met, their grievances whether or not genuine are not met, they should disrupt the parliament, which is very disappointing," he said.

He said the disruption in the functioning of the Parliament is a loss to the nation and not to the ruling party.

"They want to bring wrong to the government. Unfortunately, when their demands or requests are not entertained they disrupt the parliament," the Deputy Speaker said about opposition parties.

"When the other day, the anti-corruption bill was taken up for discussion in the House, I myself said this is a loss to the nation, for all of us and not for the ruling party. We all are responsible for this kind of loss," he told ANI.

According to him, for the smooth functioning of the Parliament, the government should take initiative in solving genuine problems of MPs and ensure they are listened to, while the opposition should make sure that important bills and businesses of the government are transacted.

"Both of them should take responsibility and behave in a more responsible way. This is the only way to make the House function," he said.

When asked about the opposition parties' allegations that the government is not serious about making the House function, the Deputy Speaker said there was no truth in the allegation.

Denying the allegations, he said: "Even today (Friday) the opposition said the government did not talk to them seriously and that if the government talked there would have been a solution to the issues, but it is only a blame put at the opposition parties on the government."

He said the government, on the other hand, asserted it had done whatever it could to make the House function smoothly.

"The government says it is the duty of the opposition to cooperate in the functioning of the Parliament."

The entire session of the Parliament was washed out owing to disruptions in the functioning of the House. Both the opposition Congress Party, as well as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, has blamed one another for disruptions.

The Telugu Desam Party has however blamed the BJP for the disruptions, saying it was practising divide and rule method to run away from providing special status to Andhra Pradesh promised by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).