If morning shows the day, the winter session in Parliament is going to be a rather stormy one. On Monday, both Houses of Parliament were adjourned following an uproar on foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gave a notice for suspension of Question Hour to discuss FDI. An all-party meeting later also failed to address this issue and end the deadlock in Parliament.
Highly placed sources told Millennium Post the government is clear that it will not settle for a discussion that ends with a vote in Lok Sabha under Rule 184, which is the Opposition’s demand. While the UPA government is in favour of having a discussion instead in the Lok Sabha under Rule 193, which does not entail voting. The government is currently trying to work out a strategy which will take the middle ground between Rule 184 and Rule 193, but it is very clear no voting will be done at all, said sources.
After an over two-hour all-party meet, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said: ‘Many members said the House must run. I will appeal to the parties demanding a discussion under Rule 184 to reconsider their view, and I will discuss the sentiments expressed in the meeting with the presiding officers of the two houses.’
While exiting the meeting on a discordant note, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and senior BJP leader, Sushma Swaraj, clearly indicated that her party was in no mood to compromise on this issue. ‘We are not ready to compromise. Nothing short of 184 for us,’ said Swaraj.
Held in Parliament House, the meeting was chaired by Leader of the Lok Sabha Sushil Kumar Shinde and also attended by finance minister P Chidambaram, parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath, commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma and agriculture minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Also present during this meeting were Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, NDA working chairperson L K Advani, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, Reoti Raman Singh and Naresh Agrawal (both SP), T R Baalu (DMK), BSP leader Mayawati, her party colleague Satish Chandra Mishra, Sudip Bandyopadhyay (TMC) and Arjun Charan Sethi (BJD).
Speaking on the issue, Congress spokesperson Sandeep Dikshit said: ‘We all should accept the speaker’s decision. We are satisfied that most parties want the speaker to decide on the rule of the debate. Only the NDA and the Left want a debate under Rule 184. We appeal to them to support the Speaker’s decision.’ Dikshit said that the SP, the BSP, the DMK and Trinamool Congress said they wanted the speaker to decide on the rule of debate.
Highly placed sources told Millennium Post the government is clear that it will not settle for a discussion that ends with a vote in Lok Sabha under Rule 184, which is the Opposition’s demand. While the UPA government is in favour of having a discussion instead in the Lok Sabha under Rule 193, which does not entail voting. The government is currently trying to work out a strategy which will take the middle ground between Rule 184 and Rule 193, but it is very clear no voting will be done at all, said sources.
After an over two-hour all-party meet, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said: ‘Many members said the House must run. I will appeal to the parties demanding a discussion under Rule 184 to reconsider their view, and I will discuss the sentiments expressed in the meeting with the presiding officers of the two houses.’
While exiting the meeting on a discordant note, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and senior BJP leader, Sushma Swaraj, clearly indicated that her party was in no mood to compromise on this issue. ‘We are not ready to compromise. Nothing short of 184 for us,’ said Swaraj.
Held in Parliament House, the meeting was chaired by Leader of the Lok Sabha Sushil Kumar Shinde and also attended by finance minister P Chidambaram, parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath, commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma and agriculture minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Also present during this meeting were Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, NDA working chairperson L K Advani, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, Reoti Raman Singh and Naresh Agrawal (both SP), T R Baalu (DMK), BSP leader Mayawati, her party colleague Satish Chandra Mishra, Sudip Bandyopadhyay (TMC) and Arjun Charan Sethi (BJD).
Speaking on the issue, Congress spokesperson Sandeep Dikshit said: ‘We all should accept the speaker’s decision. We are satisfied that most parties want the speaker to decide on the rule of the debate. Only the NDA and the Left want a debate under Rule 184. We appeal to them to support the Speaker’s decision.’ Dikshit said that the SP, the BSP, the DMK and Trinamool Congress said they wanted the speaker to decide on the rule of debate.