The all-party meeting convened by the Union government on Sunday ahead of the Winter session of Parliament witnessed drama after Aam Aadmi Party staged a walkout. While the Centre was represented by Union Ministers Piyush Goyal, Rajnath Singh and Pralhad Joshi, key opposition leaders such as Mallikarjun Kharge, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Anand Sharma of Congress, Sudip Banerjee and Derek O’Brien from TMC, TR Baalu and T Siva from DMK and Sharad Pawar from NCP were also present. Speaking to the media, AAP MP Sanjay Singh claimed that the Centre was not ready to listen to the opposition.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh remarked, “They do not let anyone speak here. They do not let anyone have their say. I was raising the issue of farmers. I made it clear that you should bring the MSP guarantee law in this session itself. Yesterday, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha meeting was held. It said that the Electricity Amendment Bill shouldn’t be tabled. But the Electricity Amendment Bill features in the list of bills.”
The Rajya Sabha MP added, “I raised the issue of Punjab where you increased the jurisdiction of BSF to 50 km. There is unrest there. You are saying Jinnah, Jinnah whereas the farmer is saying Ganna, Ganna. You are not ready to listen to us. You neither let us speak in Parliament nor all-party meeting. So what is the point of staying in such a meeting?”
They (Govt) don’t let any member speak during all-Party meeting. I raised the issue of bringing law on MSP guarantee in this session of the Parliament and other issues incl extension of BSF’s jurisdiction etc. They don’t us speak in all-Party meet&Parliament:AAP MP Sanjay Singh pic.twitter.com/bajE2gylip
— ANI (@ANI) November 28, 2021
Monsoon session marred by chaotic scenes
The Monsoon Session of Parliament which commenced on July 19 was marked by sloganeering, leaders rushing to the Well of the House with placards, tearing of papers, and repeated adjournments. The opposition blamed the stubborn attitude of the treasury benches for the logjam, insisting on discussing the Pegasus ‘snooping’ row followed by the farm laws and inflation. Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adjourned sine dine on August 11 owing to the obstructionism of the opposition.
The productivity of the Lower House and Upper House was 21% and 28% respectively. Rajya Sabha in particular saw chaotic scenes with 7 TMC MPs- Santanu Sen, Dola Sen, Md. Nadimul Haque, Abir Ranjan Biswas, Shanta Chhetri, Arpita Ghosh and Mausam Noor being suspended during the course of the Session. The final day also witnessed pandemonium with the opposition alleging that marshals had manhandled two women MPs. However, the Union government rubbished these allegations and demanded strict action against MPs who purportedly indulged in hooliganism.
