Parliament logjam: SP chief Mulayam Singh says ‘let us talk, not stall’

As Mulayam Singh spoke in the House, Congress president Sonia Gandhi tried to stop him and Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, said the SP chief was giving only his opinion.

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Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had a meeting with opposition leaders in her chamber where Mulayam Singh said a discussion in the House was necessary to at least understand what the Congress was protesting about.

He was quoted as having said “let other parties decide if they too are in support of this”, and that those against whom allegations are being levelled had “a right to explain themselves in Parliament”. According to the SP chief, only this could end the standoff.

The Congress, which has stuck to its demand for the resignations of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Chief Ministers Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the controversies surrounding them, has been insisting on an adjournment motion in the House.

After the first of three adjournments forced by the ruckus in Lok Sabha Monday morning, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters: “An adjournment motion means adjourning all businesses of the House and then a discussion on the matter.”

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan did not allow the Congress notice for an adjournment motion.

The day began with 30 Congress MPs — 25 were suspended for five days last week— waving placards and raising slogans in the well of the House.

As the protests continued, Mulayam Singh told the Speaker: “My plea to you is that to break the logjam, you can call us all for talks and all this will stop. Why don’t you call me and leaders from both sides? You never call us. We can discuss and end the matter immediately.”

The Speaker told him she had already held multiple meetings with leaders without success. “If Khargeji is ready to come to my chamber, I will call everyone for a meeting. There is no problem. I will also allow the discussion in the House. From this side also, nobody is saying no to a discussion. But it cannot happen like this,” Mahajan said.

A simple discussion under Rule 193 — this is what the government will prefer — without an adjournment motion would be a tactical defeat for the Congress since it would have exhausted one of the tools available to bring up contentious issues in the House. For the government, the problem with an adjournment motion is that while its majority will not let a motion go through in Lok Sabha, it will be tricky in the Rajya Sabha where the numbers are stacked against the ruling coalition.

At a meeting of the business advisory committee Monday — Congress leader K C Venugopal walked out — it was decided that the House will keep aside four hours for a comprehensive debate on the Lalit Modi row under Rule 193.

After the SP chief’s remarks, the BJP claimed that opposition unity had been broken, that the Congress stood isolated. But Congress leaders said the treasury benches had failed to divide the opposition. “The TMC, Left parties, AAP, NCP and RJD are still with us. They have not agreed for a debate under Rule 193,” Venugopal said.