Amid Ambedkar row, Houses adjourn sine die within minutes
The tumultuous winter session of Parliament was adjourned sine die on Friday as the ruling BJP and the Congress-led opposition remained at loggerheads after Home Minister Amit Shah’s controversial comments on Dalit icon BR Ambedkar, leading to a nationwide furore and providing the INDIA bloc enough political ammunition to put the NDA on the back foot.
Editorial: It’s unparliamentary
As Parliament met on the last day, the bitterness involving the ruling NDA and opposition parties following Thursday’s spat persisted, forcing Speaker Om Birla to adjourn the Lok Sabha within three minutes without even the customary summing up of the session’s highlights.
It was only a little better in the Rajya Sabha as opposition parties, which were protesting Shah’s alleged insulting comments for Ambedkar, agreed to let Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar read out his valedictory remarks before adjourning the House sine die.
Owing to repeated disruptions, the Rajya Sabha functioned for only 43 hours out of its scheduled time during the almost month-long tenure, logging a productivity of 40 per cent. The Lok Sabha figures stood a bit higher at 62 hours, with 54 per cent productivity. While the Lok Sabha passed four Bills, the count stood at three for the Rajya Sabha.
At a press conference after the culmination of the session, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju laid the blame on the Opposition, especially the Congress, saying, “Their continuous protests despite an earlier agreement to allow Parliament to run was the principal reason behind the low productivity. We can only appeal to all leaders to ruminate over the consequences of disruptions. We should function as per the parliamentary framework.”
Rijiju was referring to Thursday’s scuffle between the BJP and Congress MPs during a protest outside the new Parliament’s main entrance. Two BJP MPs suffered “injuries” even as Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and his Lok Sabha counterpart Rahul Gandhi were reportedly not allowed to enter Parliament.
“Disruption is not the solution. Due to it, both lawmakers and the nation suffer. We hope such acts aren’t repeated in the future,” said Rijiju.
About the December 19 scuffle between lawmakers while protesting against each other, the minister said it was “condemnable”.
“MPs have been injured…. Violence should not take place. The Speaker has issued directions against holding such protests near Parliament entrance,” Rijiju said, acknowledging the fact that BJP MPs were protesting in front of Parliament’s main entrance when the scuffle erupted.
