The Opposition, which closed ranks to demonstrate its collective strength this Parliament session, has decided to address the people directly to tell them the Narendra Modi government wants to render the House irrelevant.
The decision came on a day both Houses were adjourned sine die, cutting short the monsoon session by two days, and a bill to privatise general insurance companies was passed in the Rajya Sabha in controversial circumstances.
All the Opposition MPs have been told to assemble in Parliament on Thursday morning. From there, they will march to Vijay Chowk and talk to the nation through the media.
What turned out to be the last day of the monsoon session saw the Rajya Sabha Chair crying and revealing that he spent a “sleepless night” after “the acts of sacrilege” in the House on Tuesday.
Towards the end of the day on Wednesday, while the insurance bill was being passed in the Rajya Sabha amid protests, the Opposition alleged that women members were pushed back by male marshals. Veteran MP Sharad Pawar said: “In my 55 years of parliamentary career, I never saw the way the women MPs were attacked today.” (See Page 4)
The Congress, which had marshalled around 14 parties during the session, has accused the government of bulldozing democratic norms and traditions to escape parliamentary scrutiny of the Pegasus controversy and the agitating farmers’ demands.
Responding to Naidu’s description of Opposition members climbing on tables as “sacrilege”, several MPs contended that what constituted sacrilege was running the Houses in a “partisan” manner and in disregard of the rules.
“What is the option left if Parliament is not allowed to do its duty? The government only wants to push its business, pass bills without discussion and crush the voice of the Opposition,” the Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Kodikunnil Suresh, told The Telegraph.
Rashtriya Janata Dal member Manoj Jha told this newspaper: “It’s the ruling party that has committed the greatest act of sacrilege by throttling the spirit of parliamentary democracy. Such arrogance, such disdain for parliamentary tradition, such contempt for the Opposition had never before been seen in India’s history.
“The manner in which women MPs were manhandled by staff and marshals on the directions of the regime reminds us of the ‘night of long knives’ moment in Germany.”
Jha asked: “Is it imaginable that the parliamentary affairs minister blames the women MPs and demands action against them for manhandling marshals?"
Suresh, the Congress MP, said: “This government has bluntly told the nation through its obduracy that Parliament is not for people’s issues. Why shouldn’t Parliament discuss snooping done with a foreign spyware? Isn’t national security and illegal surveillance a concern?”
He added: “Farmers are sitting outside Delhi for nine months; Covid mismanagement has played havoc with the people; the prices of petrol and diesel have crossed Rs 100 — shouldn’t these issues be discussed in Parliament? They did everything to black out the Opposition and they are blaming the Opposition. They used presiding officers to defame the Opposition.”
The Opposition believes that Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla have been partisan in condemning the Opposition for disruptions and protests.
“Presiding officers in Parliament are supposed to be neutral umpires, not partisan players,” the Congress chief whip in the Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh, tweeted.
“They cannot present a totally one-sided picture of goings-on in the House and further aggravate the situation. Misplaced emotion leads to commotion.”
Adhir Chowdhury, the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, said: “The government was itching to malign the Opposition and mislead the nation. The Opposition was collectively pressing for debates on important issues but the government was determined to steamroller all our demands.
“None of our demands was unreasonable. The Pegasus snooping is not only related to national security, it affects India’s prestige as a nation, as a mature democracy. So many countries are investigating (allegations of Pegasus-enabled surveillance) but the Modi government won’t allow even a debate.”
Adhir said the Opposition had insisted on a reply from Prime Minister Modi or home minister Amit Shah because the various ministries were talking in different voices on the Pegasus controversy.
“The defence ministry gives one reply on Pegasus, the IT ministry gives another reply, the ministry of external affairs says something else. The nation is completely perplexed,” he said.
“But the Prime Minister came to the Lok Sabha today when everything was over. This government is not interested in Parliament. This government is concerned with its own business and will do that by hook or by crook. The Opposition is now not even shown on (Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha) TV. This government is becoming a huge threat to democracy.”
The Congress tweeted: “The Modi government is changing India from the world’s largest democracy to the world’s largest dictatorship. We will not stand for it. Will you?”
