After the monsoon session of Parliament was washed out due to protests by an unrelenting BJP-led NDA over ‘coalgate’, NDA convener Sharad Yadav on Monday asserted that the coming winter session of the House would not be washed out “as the Opposition MPs wanted to raise issues concerning the common people.”
The JD (U) president, however, admitted that a formal decision in this regard was yet to be arrived at in the BJP. However, Yadav said that he had informal talks over the issue with some BJP leaders. “The next Parliament session will definitely run. The winter session will not be disrupted even for a day. The Congress may run away from the House, but we will not run,” Yadav said.
When asked about the BJP’s position during last session wherein the party had remained adamant on resignation of the Prime Minister over ‘coalgate’, Yadav said: “It was unfortunate that the session could not run as it is in Parliament where the country’s issues are discussed”.
“There could be a demand for the resignation of the Prime Minister but there will be no rigidity on the issue... I will take the initiative to bring together the entire Opposition and other parties on the issue,” he said.
Though the JD-U had initial reservations over the strategy of disrupting the functioning of Parliament, it made common cause with the BJP on the issue as part of its ‘coalition dharma’.
Yadav has been the NDA representative in rallying together various parties.
Extended Session
The NDA convener also demanded that the Parliament session should be stretched to two months “so that all important issues facing the nation could be discussed there”.
“The only solution to address the issues of the country is to devote maximum time by MPs in Parliament sessions. Many important issues have taken a backseat due to Parliament being not in session,” the JD(U) chief said.
