Parliament deadlock ends as Govt, Oppn reach consensus on Constitution debate

At a meeting of floor leaders of all parties convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, both the government and the Opposition parties agreed for a special discussion on the Constitution during the session.

Expressing confidence that both the Houses will function smoothly from Tuesday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the Lok Sabha will take up a debate on the Constitution on December 13-14 while the Rajya Sabha will hold a discussion on it on December 16-17.

Rijiju, who attended the meeting, told reporters that the Opposition parties had demanded discussions on the issue to mark the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution by the Constituent Assembly.

Earlier in the day, several Opposition MPs met Speaker Birla, seeking a discussion on the Constitution and urging him to slot dates for the same.

The Opposition members meanwhile continued their protests in both the Houses over the Adani indictment case, Sambhal violence and other issues, leading to the repeated disruption of their proceedings before their adjournment for the day.

The first week of the session has been washed out in the wake of the Congress’s insistence on a thorough discussion on the Adani row and the government’s reluctance to accept it.

The Congress leadership however came under pressure amid unease among a section of the party MPs as well as some other Opposition parties over the continued stonewalling of the two Houses.

Sources said there was “an overwhelming” view among the Congress MPs at their morning huddle before Parliament met that such stalling of discussions and proceedings were not helping the party’s cause. “The leaders, in a way, came under pressure to look for ways to see that Parliament functions,” said a party MP.

In the meeting of the INDIA bloc leaders too, which was attended by Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, the Left parties took a stand that the Opposition’s current strategy of protests in the House was not working. While maintaining that the Left are with the INDIA bloc, its leaders suggested that there should be a “rethink” in its strategy. The decision to approach the Speaker and press for a discussion on the Constitution was subsequently taken, sources said.

With a large Opposition section keen on participating in the business of both the Houses to take up multiple issues, the Congress leadership thus decided to change its parliamentary tactics and resolve the impasse, sources added.

Later in the day, Congress sources said that while deciding to participate in the parliamentary proceedings, the party would not give up its protests over the Adani row.

In a meeting of Congress leaders held at party president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence in the evening, the party decided to rally the Opposition MPs to hold a sit-in protest over the Adani issue at Makar Dwar of Parliament House before the resumption of the House sittings Tuesday.

“We will continue our protest. Our members will raise this issue during the debates on Bills, such as when the House takes up the banking law amendment Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha today, or on other occasions,” said a Congress leader.

Congress general secretary K C Venugopal told media persons in the morning that the Opposition has demanded a discussion on the Constitution. “We have met the Speaker and our only demand is that he has to take action to run the House smoothly. We are ready to run the House provided there should be a discussion on the Constitution which they promised us,” Venugopal said.

The BJP leaders, however, asserted that the party had already demanded a discussion on the Constitution. “We had made this demand on the first Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting of this winter session itself. We wanted a proper discussion on the Constitution and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to speak on it too,” said a BJP leader.

Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh accused the government of allegedly not showing any interest in running Parliament. “Today also, both Houses got adjourned. INDIA parties had given notices for an immediate discussion on Adani, Manipur, Sambhal and Ajmer. These (Opposition) parties never agitated. There was hardly any sloganeering. But the Modi government simply did not want Parliament to function,” Ramesh alleged.

“The situation is truly extraordinary. The Opposition wants a discussion but the government is running away from it,” he claimed. “The responsibility of the government is to get Parliament functioning. The Opposition must have its say but the government will have its way. But here the government has lost its way and does not want Parliament to function.”

Ramesh dismissed reports of differences within the Opposition ranks over the Adani issue, saying that different parties have different issues but all of them were united over this “important matter”. “We are also of the view that Manipur is an important issue. The way a Pandora’s box has been opened (with respect to) the Places of Worship Act is an issue. So there are various issues,” he added.

Some INDIA parties, especially the TMC, were however said to have not attached the same priority to the Adani row as the Congress, seeking discussions on a slew of other issues, including unemployment, price rise and the Centre’s alleged discrimination against Opposition-ruled states in fund allocations.

So far, the TMC has skipped the INDIA meetings held by the Congress to work out the alliance’s strategy for the session.

The SP is likely to raise the Sambhal issue in Parliament during the Zero Hour Tuesday.