Attempts by Presiding Officers to break deadlock in Parliament fail to yield results
The Hindu
Attempts by the Presiding Officers of both Houses of Parliament to break the deadlock between the Treasury and Opposition benches did not succeed.
Attempts by the Presiding Officers of both Houses of Parliament to break the deadlock between the Treasury and Opposition benches did not succeed on Tuesday, leading to speculation that the Budget Session could be truncated ahead of its April 6 schedule.
At a meeting of floor leaders of the Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla asked both sides to let go off the contentious issues — the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) insistence on an apology from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his alleged “anti-India” remarks and the Opposition’s demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into in the Adani-Hindenburg episode.
Sources claimed that the government, represented by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, was ready to set aside their demand to let the House run for essential financial business that is pending.
Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, however, insisted that Mr. Gandhi be given the right to respond to the allegations made against him by senior Ministers, including Mr. Goyal, Mr. Joshi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
He argued that their allegations against the former Congress chief were now part of the Parliament record and that’s why Mr. Gandhi must get the right to respond.
As The Hindu reported on Tuesday morning, Mr. Chowdhury aggressive stance comes after Mr. Gandhi wrote to Mr. Birla to allow him under Rule 357 to respond to the “scurrilous” charges made against him by the Ministers.
When the government representatives at the meet pointed out that the former Congress chief had insulted the country by talking about Lok Sabha microphones being switched off and the state of democracy, Mr. Chowdhury is said to have countered by raising comments made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier during his trips abroad and suggested a debate even on the issue of microphones.