NEW DELHI: As the winter session of Parliament is entering the final week and the opposition parties are not in a mood to give up their protests against the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs, the central government on Sunday called for a meeting of leaders of the five parties whose MPs have been suspended.
However, these parties are unlikely to attend the meeting and want the entire opposition to discuss the matter. Floor leaders of the opposition parties are likely to meet at the office of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge’s office on Monday morning to decide the future course of action.
“Opposition is united in fighting the suspension of 12 MPs. Calling 5 parties for discussion at the fag end of the session is to divide the opposition unity. CPI will not subscribe to it. The final decision will be taken tomorrow in the joint opposition meeting,” said CPI MP Binoy Viswam who is among the 12 suspended MPs.The Rajya Sabha has been witnessing disruption since the start of the winter session on November 29 and this has pulled down the cumulative functionality of the House for the first three weeks to 46.70 per cent.
“Monday morning stunt from a government who does not want Parliament to function. Government calls leaders of five opposition parties whose 12 RS MPs have been arbitrarily suspended. Government leaves the other 10 Opposition parties out. Failed stunt. All opposition clear that first revoke the arbitrary suspension (sic),” tweeted senior TMC MP Derek O’Brien.
Lawmakers from the Congress, TMC, CPI(M), CPI and Shiv Sena have been staging a sit-in in front of the Gandhi statue in Parliament to protest their suspension.
Meanwhile, the Congress strategy group in both Houses of Parliament met Sunday evening to discuss the party’s strategy to continue pushing for revoking the suspension of MPs while seeking discussion on key issues that the government is evading.