New Delhi: Parliament on Monday passed eight Bills as Union minister Kiren Rijiju slammed the Opposition parties for repeated disruptions of both the Houses of Parliament and announced that the government would proceed with the legislative agenda without their participation.
Addressing a press conference here, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rijiju also did not rule out an early end of the Monsoon session, contending that the
Congress and other Opposition parties were not interested in allowing Parliament to function.
“Woh toh dekhte hai (Let us see it)... Opposition is not interested in allowing Parliament to function. The Opposition is interested only in headline management. They do not trust democratic institutions,” Rijiju said in response to a question on an early end to the ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament.
The session began on June 21 and has witnessed disruptions for 14 days, barring a two-day discussion on Operation Sindoor and the Pahalgam terror attack. It is scheduled to last till August 21.
The Lok Sabha passed four Bills -- The National Sports Governance Bill, The National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill, The Income-Tax (No 2) Bill and Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill -- amid protests from the Opposition on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
The Rajya Sabha passed The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill and The Merchant Shipping Bill, and also returned the Manipur Appropriation Bill and The Manipur Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, which were already passed by the Lok Sabha.
“Every day, we will not allow the country’s and Parliament’s time to be wasted on one issue. Parliament cannot to be held to ransom anymore. Therefore, we will pass important Bills,” Rijiju said.
The minister said the government was keen to have a discussion on important Bills, but repeated disruptions by the Opposition were leading to adjournments of both Houses of Parliament.
“We have clearly stated that there should be meaningful and lengthy discussions on important Bills. Imagine, for the Sports Governance Bill and the Anti-Doping Bill, we have allocated two days in the Lok Sabha and two days in the Rajya Sabha. Yet, the Opposition is creating a ruckus,” Rijiju said.
He said the Opposition members were not interested in raising matters related to public interest and were only keen on protesting on one issue every day.