by NEW DELHI: Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi on Sunday reached out to leaders of five opposition parties whose 12 MPs were suspended from Rajya Sabha on opening day of the winter session, calling for a meeting at 10am on Monday. The leaders of the parties — Congress, Trinamool Congress, CPI, CPM and Shiv Sena — may rebuff the government’s bid to confer with a limited set of leaders to end the ongoing stalemate, rather than the entire opposition group.
While the government has maintained that nothing less than an apology will suffice to end the suspension, Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu last week appealed to both treasury benches and opposition to hold a dialogue to end the impasse in the interest of letting the House run smoothly. Rajya Sabha’s productivity in winter session’s third week hit a low of 37% owing to disruptions by opposition MPs demanding that the suspension be revoked.
Opposition MPs, however, appeared on Sunday to be unwilling to concede to the government’s “half-hearted” reaching out, and have convened an emergency meeting of all opposition leaders at 9.45am at leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge’s office. With only four days of the winter session remaining, the leaders are expected to decide whether or not to consider the government’s compromise bid.
“Monday morning STUNT from a Govt. who do not want #Parliament to function. Govt calls leaders of the 5 Oppn parties whose 12 RS MPs have been arbitrarily suspended. Govt leaves other 10 Oppn parties out. Failed stunt. ALL OPPN clear : first revoke arbitrary suspension,” Trinamool MP and floor leader Derek O’brien said on Twitter.
Suspended CPI MP Binoy Viswam also said his party does not subscribe to the idea of government dividing the opposition.
“Opposition united is fighting the suspension of 12 MPs. Calling 5 parties for discussion at the fag end of the session is to divide the opposition unity. CPI will not subscribe to it. Final decision will be taken tomorrow in the joint opposition meeting,” Viswam said on Twitter.
Congress also held a truncated parliamentary party meeting on Sunday where it is understood to have agreed that in the face of government remaining “adamant” about not revoking the suspension of the 12 MPs, and not agreeing in Lok Sabha to dismiss MoS Home Ajay Mishra Teni for his son’s alleged involvement in the Lakhimpur Kheri killing of farmers, the Congress will continue to press for a discussion on these and other issues including price rise.
While the government has maintained that nothing less than an apology will suffice to end the suspension, Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu last week appealed to both treasury benches and opposition to hold a dialogue to end the impasse in the interest of letting the House run smoothly. Rajya Sabha’s productivity in winter session’s third week hit a low of 37% owing to disruptions by opposition MPs demanding that the suspension be revoked.
Opposition MPs, however, appeared on Sunday to be unwilling to concede to the government’s “half-hearted” reaching out, and have convened an emergency meeting of all opposition leaders at 9.45am at leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge’s office. With only four days of the winter session remaining, the leaders are expected to decide whether or not to consider the government’s compromise bid.
“Monday morning STUNT from a Govt. who do not want #Parliament to function. Govt calls leaders of the 5 Oppn parties whose 12 RS MPs have been arbitrarily suspended. Govt leaves other 10 Oppn parties out. Failed stunt. ALL OPPN clear : first revoke arbitrary suspension,” Trinamool MP and floor leader Derek O’brien said on Twitter.
Suspended CPI MP Binoy Viswam also said his party does not subscribe to the idea of government dividing the opposition.
“Opposition united is fighting the suspension of 12 MPs. Calling 5 parties for discussion at the fag end of the session is to divide the opposition unity. CPI will not subscribe to it. Final decision will be taken tomorrow in the joint opposition meeting,” Viswam said on Twitter.
Congress also held a truncated parliamentary party meeting on Sunday where it is understood to have agreed that in the face of government remaining “adamant” about not revoking the suspension of the 12 MPs, and not agreeing in Lok Sabha to dismiss MoS Home Ajay Mishra Teni for his son’s alleged involvement in the Lakhimpur Kheri killing of farmers, the Congress will continue to press for a discussion on these and other issues including price rise.
