Parliament: Middle ground still elusive, govt appeals for sake of bills

For Lok Sabha, the government reiterated there could be a debate on demonetisation but ruled out voting as the country cannot be seen as divided on issues such as corruption or terrorism. The Opposition kept insisting on a vote though it has watered down its demand for an adjournment motion.

For Rajya Sabha, whether it can function next week will hinge on whether the Opposition is willing to climb down from its demand that the prime minister apologise for remarks made outside. The government has ruled this out on the ground that he did not mention any Opposition leader in his remarks about “supporters of black money”.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said Friday the government would appeal to the Opposition to cooperate for passage of the Right of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2014, Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill 2016 (passed by Rajya Sabha, pending before Lok Sabha) and Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bills 2016.

The government has indicated it might use the money bill route for bills on central GST and integrated GST to pave the way for implementation of the new tax regime. For pushing the other bills, government sources said their floor managers would be in touch with Opposition leaders.

A Lok Sabha debate on demonetisation, however, is looking unlikely. Ananth Kumar said parties like the BJD are not insisting on a vote, unlike the Congress and the TMC. The government wants a discussion under rule 194, which does not entail voting.

About Rajya Sabha, Ananth Kumar said the Opposition was being “unreasonable and irrational” by demanding an apology from the PM who, he said, had not referred to any leader as a supporter of black money.

The government has indicated the PM is willing to spend time in Rajya Sabha and listen to part of the discussion though he will not sit through the speeches of all 24-odd speakers listed.

Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad had a long meeting with deputy chairman P J Kurien Friday, discussing ways to get the House back on track.

Opposition sources hinted at a tactical change discussed in their morning meeting — rather than an apology, they may ask for a withdrawal of the PM’s statement instead. Sources said, however, that an unequivocal retraction of the statement is not acceptable to the government either.

“One option that is now being thrown around now is that the prime minister should intervene as planned and then in course of the speech make a minor clarification that the statement that has offended the Opposition was not targeting them… But certainly he will not sit through all the speeches,” said a source.