Centre slams opposition for disrupting parliament

The government on Wednesday slammed the opposition for repeatedly disrupting parliament, even as it expressed satisfaction over the work done in the session thast concluded on Wednesday.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said question hour in the Lok Sabha ran on 32 days and on 20 days there were notice to adjourn the question hour.

Notice for suspension of business of the house were given on 29 of the 35 sittings, he said in a press conference.

"In effect, opposition tried to disrupt the scheduled business in the Lok Sabha on 32 of 35 working days," said Naidu.

He said in the Rajya Sabha, opposition demanded adjournment of business on 15 of 32 days.

"Such demands, besides reflecting lack of seriousness and respect of sanctity of rules, result in loss of valuable time of parliament. I hope this trend will change in the coming days," said Naidu.

The minister, while stating that the hours lost to disruption were recovered by sitting for extra time and skipping lunch, added: "It would have been better if disruptions did not happen."

He also said while opposition makes allegations, it was not ready to hear an explanation.

"Opposition wants to make allegations, but does not want calcification," said Naidu.

Asked if the government failed to convince the opposition, the minister said: "The opposition has decided not to get convinced."

He also said people were watching who was obstructing the reform agenda.

"People understand who is obstructing reforms," said Naidu as the session saw two key bills - land acquisition bill and GST bill - going to parliament committees.