The Congress and other Opposition parties have decided to not be a part of an inquiry committee that Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu wants to line up to research the acrimonious scenes that were witnessed on August 11 within the House during the passage of the overall Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill.
Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to Naidu Thursday saying the constitution of the committee seems to be “designed” to “intimidate” MPs into silence.
Sources said all the main Opposition parties — among them the Trinamool Congress, CPM, CPI, RJD, Shiv Sena, NCP and Aam Aadmi Party — have decided an equivalent .
After the unruly scenes, the Opposition parties had alleged that “outsiders” who weren’t a part of “Parliament security” were brought into the Upper House to “manhandle” MPs, including women members, during the passage of the Bill, and had argued that what had happened within the House was “unprecedented” and was like “martial law” being imposed in Parliament.
Several Union ministers, in turn, had met Naidu and demanded action against a number of the Opposition MPs for what they called unprecedented, extreme and violent acts within the House on August 11.
Naidu, sources said, spoke to Kharge earlier in the week and proposed to constitute the inquiry committee and asked Kharge to nominate a Congress MP to the panel.
n his letter to Naidu, Kharge said the Opposition parties had been “willing and eager” to debate “all matters of public importance” during the session but the govt had “not only ignored the Opposition parties’ demands for discussions but also rushed through crucial Bills and policies which might potentially have grave and adverse effects on India”.
“It also bypassed Standing Committees and refused to possess any meaningful discussion on Bills, policies and issues. Additionally, senior ministers were largely absent from Parliament while Opposition MPs were suspended. In doing so, the govt undermined the sovereignty of Parliament,” he wrote.
Kharge said the govt was “equally responsible” for the graceful functioning of Parliament and “it is obligatory it to foster a conducive environment for healthy discussions”. “Deeply concerned about the national interest, the Opposition parties were left with no option but to protest against the Government’s authoritarian conduct.”
Kharge also recalled that when within the Opposition, the BJP had held similar protests in Parliament. “Many from the present ruling party have within the past posited that expressing dissent during this manner is suitable during a democracy .”
“Given this, constituting an inquiry committee on the incident of August 11… seems to be designed to intimidate MPs into silence. it’ll not only suppress the voices of the people’s representatives but will deliberately ignore all people who are uncomfortable to the govt . I am, therefore, unequivocally against constituting the inquiry committee and therefore the question of our party proposing the name of a member… to the present committee doesn’t arise,” Kharge wrote. He suggested that a “better course” would be to debate this issue at an all-party meeting before subsequent session.
Sources within the Trinamool Congress said the party was “not even asked” by the Chairman to nominate a member, adding that each one the Opposition parties are united in refusing to be a part of any inquiry committee.
“The Leader of the Opposition discussed the difficulty with me. We can’t be a part of any such committee. The Parliament has an ethics panel . there’s no need for a special committee. We don’t accept as true with the Chairman’s proposal,” CPM legislator Elamaram Kareem told The Indian Express.
“We also are not joining. We accompany the opposite Opposition parties. When the opposite Opposition parties take a decision… we stand by it,” said DMK leader Tiruchi Siva.
“We align with the letter and spirit of what LoP Khargeji has written. Any ruckus in democracy has got to be seen within the wider context of how the Treasury Bench views the thought of Opposition in Parliament. If you would like Parliament to be a rubber stamp for your policies… sorry this is often not how Indian Parliament was envisaged,” the RJD’s Manoj Jha told The Indian Express.
On August 12, each day after the Monsoon Session of Parliament came to an abrupt end, Kharge had written to Naidu on behalf of the Opposition parties expressing “strongest possible condemnation” at the way during which the House was conducted on August 11 evening.
A very sizable amount of security personnel, who weren’t a part of “> a part of the regular part of the watch and ward staff of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, were deployed. They used unacceptable force and physically manhandled Members of Parliament, including women members… What happened last evening was a shocking, unprecedented insult to our democracy and therefore the very dignity of the House. Opposition MPs were prevented from registering their protest against the overall Insurance Amendment Bill on which there was a good consensus that it should be mentioned a get Committee,” he had written.
The Bill, allowing the govt to scale back its stake in insurance companies, and stop allying with insurers from the date the Centre ceases to possess control over them, was passed after but 20 minutes of dialogue . it had been earlier gone by the Lok Sabha.
According to PRS Legislative Research data, the Lok Sabha took only 34 minutes on the average to pass a Bill within the Monsoon Session, while the Rajya Sabha did it in 46 minutes.