Cong sees design to disrupt, muzzle normal functioning of Parliament

On Monday, the government got 12 Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs from five parties suspended for the entire winter session for 'misconduct' and 'unruly' behaviour

Rahul Gandhi in Parliament on Tuesday. “Apology for what? For raising people's concerns in Parliament? Absolutely not,” Rahul tweeted in Hindi.: (PTI picture)

Sanjay K. Jha   |   TT  |  New Delhi   |   01.12.21: The Congress on Tuesday accused the Narendra Modi government of deliberately creating situations in which normal functioning of Parliament was not possible because it does not want the Opposition to bring out uncomfortable truths on vital issues.

“Members can’t be suspended in the next session of Parliament for acts committed in the previous session. This has never happened in the history of Indian Parliament. The suspension is illegal and should be revoked unconditionally. But this has been done deliberately to disturb normal proceedings. The government doesn’t want Parliament to discuss issues. Modi is scared of the truth,” Congress spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Shaktisinh Gohil said.

On Monday, the government got 12 Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs from five parties suspended for the entire winter session for “misconduct” and “unruly” behaviour on the last day of the monsoon session when they were trying to stop the passage of a bill seeking greater private sector participation in public sector insurance companies.

The suspended members, including those of the Congress, have refused to apologise for their conduct, and Upper House Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu has cited this to defend the order. Supporting the refusal to apologise, Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “Apology for what? For raising people’s voice in Parliament? Absolutely not.”

Gohil explained the party’s stand: “They want the Opposition to apologise to prove that our MPs were at fault while the government bulldozed the three farm laws in blatant violation of parliamentary rules and tradition. The government should apologise. If they throttle democracy, where else will the members go if not into the Well of the House? The Opposition was forced to create a ruckus because the government neither allowed a debate nor voting.”

The three contentious farm bills were railroaded through Parliament in complete disregard of protests by the Opposition and farmers. On Monday, the government repealed the three laws, again without any discussion. 

“There are too many lies. There is gundagardi (hooliganism) of power. They don’t want normal functioning of Parliament because the Opposition will then prove what a disaster this government has been. Because we will demand MSP (minimum support price) for farmers, we will explain how the government is not giving 

Rs 4 lakh as compensation to (the families of) Covid victims as mandated by the National Disaster Management Act, we will talk about jobs,” Gohil said.

“That’s why this one-sided tailor-made decision to suspend the MPs. This too has been done selectively. Our Punjab MP Pratap Singh Bajwa, who had been accused of creating a ruckus in the last session, hasn’t been suspended because he will then get the sympathy of farmers in the coming Assembly elections,” the Congress spokesperson said.

The monsoon session of Parliament had been washed out because the government refused to accept the Opposition’s demand for debate on the alleged Pegasus snooping and the farm bills. 

Although Prime Minister Modi often says in public that he is ready to discuss all issues — he did so before the winter session began on Monday — his government’s attitude inside Parliament has been the opposite. 

Gohil, who was the leader of the Opposition in Gujarat when Modi was chief minister, said: “This is the Modi model. That’s how he acted in Gujarat and is now imposing the same model on the whole country.”

The Congress leader continued: “Modi would get the entire Opposition suspended in the budget session. Even those members who were not present would be suspended for unruly behaviour. Once they passed a resolution suspending me (leader of the Opposition) for the entire session without any reason. Modi has no faith in democracy. His ways are dictatorial. But we are not going to be cowed down. We will continue to give voice to the people’s concerns, we will continue to fight for justice.”

Asked why members were suspended only during budget sessions in Gujarat, Gohil told The Telegraph: “Because only the budget session had a substantial number of sittings. The budget will be passed and laws enacted in the absence of the Opposition. After that he (Modi) would call one- or two-day sessions to meet the constitutional requirement of the Assembly convening within six months.”

The Gujarat Assembly sat for barely 22-23 days a year when Modi was chief minister, Gohil claimed. “In the 13 years of Modi as chief minister, not one budget session passed without Opposition members being suspended.”

Lawmakers and constitutional experts concur that Parliament and legislatures should sit for at least 100 days a year. The sittings of Parliament continued to be reduced over the decades but the average used to be around 65-70. In 2020, however, the number of sittings was 33.

Assemblies have fewer sittings but most states ensure around 50 days a year. Even in Gujarat, the Assembly sat for over 50 days a year till Modi arrived and whittled down the number to less than 30, Gohil said, claiming that this was by design.