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New Delhi: Opposition members protest during the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament in the Lok Sabha, in New Delhi on Monday. PTI Photo / TV GRAB (PTI3_19_2018_000022B)[/caption]
New Delhi, March 19 (IANS): The Parliament on Monday could not transact any business as the opposition parties continued to stall proceedings over their demands, resulting a wash out of the second part of the budget session for eleven consecutive days.
In Lok Sabha, no-confidence motions tabled by arch rivals Telugu Desam Party and YSR Congress against the Modi government were not taken up in the Lok Sabha as the logjam continued amid no signs of thaw between the opposition and the government.
No substantive business could be transacted in last 11 days except for the passage of the Finance Bill, 2018 and relevant appropriation bills in the Lok Sabha.
After the House was adjourned for an hour and when it met again at 12 noon, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan sought to put the notices of the motion for leave of the House so that a discussion could be initiated. At least 50 members should back the motion for it to be admitted.
The TRS members were demanding the increase in the reservation quota for jobs in Telangana while AIADMK members wanted the setting up of a Cauvery Management Board.
The Speaker called the members to stand up so that the numbers could be counted to see how many supported it.
But with members from the TRS and AIADMK holding placards and surrounding the Speaker’s dais, Mahajan said she could not count the members who were standing.
Minutes before Mahajan made her comments, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the government was ready to face the motion.
Earlier, the Lower House started with disruptions and was adjourned till noon within a couple of minutes amid noisy protests by AIADMK and TRS members.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar told reporters before the House met that the government had the numbers to defeat the motion.
Telugu Desam Party MP R.M. Naidu said they were trying to gather as much support as possible from all the opposition parties in Parliament knowing fully that the motion would fall because the government has enough numbers.
At present, the Lok Sabha has 539 members. The BJP has 273 -- more than the half-way mark of 270. It also has the support of several allies like the Shiv Sena and the Akali Dal.
But the Shiv Sena has said it would abstain. “We will support neither the government nor the Opposition,” said party MP Arvind Sawant.
Meanwhile, TDP MPs protested in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Parliament, demanding special category status for Andhra Pradesh. They were joined by Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury.
Scenes were no different in Rajya Sabha and amid the din the House was adjourned for the day within minutes after protests by TDP members.
Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu adjourned the House as opposition members trooped near his podium immediately after tabling of papers.
Objected to the display of placards in the House he said the chair was willing to allow the discussion but members are not allowing the House to run.
The first two weeks of the last phase of the Budget session have been virtually washed out due to protests by several parties on different issues. The government has, however, managed to get some key bills and the budget passed amid the din through a voice vote without a debate.
The protests have been over wide ranging issues, including the Punjab National Bank fraud, special category status for Andhra Pradesh and constitution of Cauvery management board to solve water sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
