NEW DELHI: The Parliament remained in a gridlock for the 16th day in a row even while the Opposition made a determined bid to move no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre. With the AIADMK MPs staying firm with their protest on the issue of Cauvery water, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan expressed ‘helplessness’ in taking up the no trust motion moved by the Congress and Left, besides the TDP and YSR Congress.
With less than a week left for the conclusion of the Budget Session of Parliament amid a truncated week on account of public holidays, the chances of admission of multiple no trust motions appear to be dimming. The Parliament is scheduled to function till April 6. On Tuesday, Mahajan informed the House that she had received motions of no-confidence against the government from leader of Congress in the House Mallikarjun Kharge and CPI(M) MP M Salim, besides Thota Narasimham and Jayadev Galla of the TDP. However, she reiterated that the House needed to be in order to take up the motions.
Kharge exhorted the Speaker to initiate discussion on the motion, while Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar asserted that the government was ready for debate. However, the AIADMK MPs remained adamant on their protests, while raising slogans in the Well of the House.Mahajan adjourned the House for the day with no respite from the ruckus. The House also witnessed the Congress and AIADMK MPs exchanging accusations in the House after the adjournment.
The Congress MPs were heard telling the AIADMK lawmakers that they were disrupting the House at the behest of the government.The Rajya Sabha also witnessed similar scenes with the AIADMK MPs pressing for accepting demands on Cauvery waters from Modi, who was in the Upper House. Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu pleaded for order, but amid din, he adjourned the House for the day.