Centre-Opposition relations on the boil; won't apologise, say errant MPs

Relations between the government and Opposition came to a boiling point on Tuesday. The entire Opposition walked out of the Rajya Sabha (RS) on the issue of suspension of 12 Members of Parliament (MPs) for their actions in the last session of Parliament.

House Chairman R Venkaiah Naidu held his ground that he was the final authority to take action against the errant MPs, while Opposition parties said this was a violation of Article 256 (2) of the rules of business, which mandates that actions of MPs in one session cannot attract punishment in the following session. 

Moreover, three MPs who have been suspended contest the action on the grounds that they were not present in the House at the time. An emotional Naidu felt compelled to assert his authority and was advised that the suspension should be seen as an example of what could happen if such incidents — tearing up papers, violence, and general indiscipline — were to happen in future, unless errant MPs expressed remorse. But the Opposition has ruled out any apology. Nor are they going to boycott the session as previously discussed. This means that Parliament will continue to function in a fraught manner, affecting productivity.

The strategies were different in the Lok Sabha (LS) and the RS. In the Upper House, tempers rose, but the government suspended discussion on the Dam Safety Bill that was listed to be passed, on the grounds it would be undemocratic to pass this legislation without discussion. However, sources in the office of the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi said the government would give time to the Opposition in the Upper House till Wednesday and would then proceed to get the Bills passed through voice vote, disruption or no disruption, regardless of how many Opposition MPs choose to be present in the House.

However, in the LS, the government and Opposition met in the Speaker’s office and pledged smooth functioning until MPs from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), on instruction from Hyderabad, began protesting against the Centre’s stance on procuring paddy.

On September 30, the Department of Food and Public Distribution had informed the state government that it would not purchase paddy from Telangana for it had surplus parboiled rice in the country and cited limited consumption. The department said it has given one-time approval for delivery of 2 million tonnes of parboiled rice to the Food Corporation of India (FCI), but no parboiled rice would be bought by FCI in future.

“We wanted a discussion. It is the government that was unable to speak to TRS and put their fears to rest. We want discussion. It is the government which is imposing conditions that there should be no discussion,” Congress leader and Whip Gaurav Gogoi told Business Standard.

The man in the spotlight is Naidu. He can revoke the suspension of MPs if he decides to, but the longer the impasse carries on, the harder it will be for him to correct the situation, with ministers insisting that MPs who misbehave must be made to pay for their actions.

Leader of the House Piyush Goyal said: “The decision to suspend MPs was taken in the context of their behaviour for nearly 20 days. For that, they are not ready to apologise and are instead levelling unsubstantiated allegations against the government.”

“There is no question of an apology,” said Binoy Viswam, suspended MP belonging to the Communist Party of India, adding, “We are not sorry for opposing the government’s policies.”

Discussions are being held between Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and the office of the chairman. At the same time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with Goyal and the parliamentary affairs minister, and managers of the party like Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

While government-Opposition relations are unlikely to see a patch-up, a working solution might be thrashed out. But memories of the winter session of 2010 are still fresh, when the Lower and Upper House could use only 6 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively, of their allotted time because of disruptions on the issue of the 2G scam.