NEW DELHI: Within two days of the commencement of the Winter session of the Parliament, both the Houses were in a gridlock, with clear indications emerging that the impasse would prolong after the top BJP strategists decided to force an apology from the leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad for claiming that more deaths had been caused due to demonetisation than the loss of lives of the armed forces in the Uri terror attack.
The NDA floor managers also decided not to budge on the stand that a discussion on demonetisation in the Lok Sabha could take place only under the Rule 193, which concludes with the reply of the concerned minister. The Congress, however, had sought the discussion under Rule 56, which entails voting, with an intention to censure the government.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar and Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Venkiah Naidu went into a huddle after both the Houses were adjourned for the day following persisting ruckus. “The ministers have decided that leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha has to apologise if the Upper House has to function. Azad’s claims of more deaths caused due to demonetisation than that of the Uri attack are not acceptable. He has sought to bring down the morale of the armed forces,” sources privy to the deliberations stated.
The NDA floor managers have noted that the Opposition would stick to their positions to create a ruckus in both the Houses of the Parliament with an eye on the upcoming elections in five states early next year. “There are enough days in the current session of the Parliament to pass at least the three legislative Bills to allow the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from April 1, 2017. We can bear the loss of business for one more week, but will not give grounds to the Opposition and by then there will be marked for improvement in the implementation of demonetisation,” sources added.
The Lok Sabha witnessed ruckus during the Question Hour with the Opposition led by the Trinamool Congress raising slogans against demonetisation. Later, leader of the Congress in the House Mallikarjuna Kharge sought admission of the adjournment motion under Rule 56 on demonetisation. “There should be voting after the discussion. We want to censure the government over the shoddy implementation of the decision,” Kharge said. However, the Speaker stated that the motion had already been rejected. Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs intervened to say that the government is ready to discuss the issue under Rule 193 so that the House does not give conflicting messages to the people on a decision which is aimed against the black money, terror funding and counterfeit currency. The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day amidst the ruckus.