Farmers Movement Archive

Monsoon session gets off to a stormy start

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was prevented from verbally introducing his newly appointed ministers in Parliament on Monday, as opposition leaders rushed to the well in both Houses to protest rising fuel prices and other issues.Modi submitted the list of new ministers in both Houses and hit back at the Opposition, accusing them of being unable to “digest” the fact that “a large number of new ministers are women, Dalits, tribals and those from Other Backward Classes”.MPs of the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and other parties rushed to the well of the House with placards to shout slogans against price rise in fuel and demanding tax cuts on petroleum products. Some Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MPs joined the protest to demand special status for Andhra Pradesh and Trinamool Congress legislators raised both price rise and atrocities on Dalits.“What is this mentality?” he asked, and said it was for the first time he faced such a situation in the House. The Congress’s Rajya Sabha chief whip Jairam Ramesh pointed out that “in 2004, the BJP in Opposition had not allowed then PM Manmohan Singh to introduce his ministers.”The Opposition has called a meeting at 10am on Tuesday to decide whether to raise the Pegasus snooping issue the same day or later as the government has accepted their demand to discuss the Covid-19 situation in the House. “We have to see what other parties say on prioritising the Covid-19 debate over other issues,” said a senior Congress leader. Trinamool’s Lok Sabha floor leader Sudip Bandopadhay, however, added that the party will raise the snooping scandal in the House on Tuesday.As a ruckus erupted in the Upper House, leader of the Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal tried to remind the Opposition about the tradition of introduction of new ministers since the time of the first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.In the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury prevented the PM from speaking and said his party has given notices to discuss issues, including the economy and (rising) prices. As other leaders also rushed to the well, Akali leaders Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Sukhbir Badal demanded repeal of the three farm laws enacted last year.Speaker Om Birla appealed for peace. “You have been in power too. You should not lower the dignity of the House. You are breaking a good tradition. This is the largest democracy, and you are setting a bad precedent.” But the protesting MPs didn’t relent.In the Rajya Sabha, chairman Venkaiah Naidu urged parliamentarians to rise above political considerations and make effective use of the Monsoon Session for effective tackling of the anticipated third wave based on the experience so far. He said MPs cannot “afford to let the people down in their hour of pain and suffering”.“Let us be conscious of the immense responsibility cast upon all of us…We all are on test, and I hope we acquit ourselves creditably by ensuring a productive monsoon session,” he said in his opening remarks on the first day of the session.

Hindustan Times

20-07-2021

India