Govt needs to be more articulate in floor management: Oppn

Opposition leaders have thrown the ball in the government's court over the smooth conduct of the Lok Sabha in the Budget session which will be having the first working day tomorrow, insisting that the government needs to be "more articulate" in floor management.
"House belongs to the Opposition as per democratic norms and Opposition leaders should be allowed to have their say," Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay, who had a meeting with Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, said.
In an apparent criticism of the floor management of the Narendra Modi dispensation, he stressed that it needs to be "more articulate".
Citing an instance, Bandyopadhyay told PTI that the issue regarding the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was taken up sometime back by the Opposition, but the government responded only a fortnight later.

At the same time, he said his party agreed with the Speaker's suggestion for allowing smooth conduct of the question hour. This, he said, needed to be observed except when a national issue comes up. He said that the meeting was at the Speaker's request.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi too had a meeting with Mahajan yesterday. Congress leaders have been insisting that they needed to be allowed to have their say in the Lok Sabha like in the Rajya Sabha where the party has got the Leader of the Opposition status due to its numbers.

25 Congress members were suspended by the Speaker some time back following frequent protests over the Lalit Modi controversy.

Concerned over the frequent disruptions in the Lok Sabha during the last two sessions, the Speaker has held consultations with a number of senior leaders including BJD's Bhartruhari Mahtab.
Mahajan had meetings with Gandhi and Trinamool Congress leader Bandyopadhyay yesterday ahead of the all party meeting.
Parliament sources said that the Speaker has been in touch with leaders of other parties too.
Yesterday, after an all party meeting, Mahajan had said a consensus has emerged among political parties that Parliament should run smoothly and the Question Hour should not become a victim of disruptions.