After helping the Government to pass the Finance Bill, Appropriations Bill, the Rail budget and the Demands for Grants of various Ministries, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided not to co-operate either with the Government or with Speaker Meira Kumar in running the House.
Alleging that the United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi prodded senior Ministers to interrupt her during a brief speech in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj said the Government was not allowing the Opposition to discharge its duties in Parliament. Swaraj said the Speaker did not protect her while even the senior Ministers stood on their feet to create disturbances.
She said the decision taken at the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) and the all-party meeting that the Opposition Leader will be allowed to speak for five minutes before walking out was breached by the Congress members.
“Whatever is decided in BAC is not implemented, but whatever Sonia Gandhi decides takes place,” she told reporters.
She said there was “complete breakdown” in the relations between the Government and the Opposition and the Congress was responsible for such a situation.
“So, we have decided that we will not attend any meeting to be convened by the Speaker or the Parliamentary Affairs Minister,” she added.
She, however, said the BJP was not considering of moving a no-confidence motion against the Centre. She said the countdown of the Government had begun. “The Congress President does not believe in the democratic process of this country,” she added.
The CPI(M), meanwhile, alleged that the BJP and Congress were engaged in “match-fixing.”
“In the garb of Prime Minister’s resignation demand, you are allowing the Government a free hand to do whatever they want. This is one kind of match-fixing between BJP and Congress,” CPI(M) leader in Rajya Sabha Sitaram Yechury said.
He added that the BJP was helping the Government to avoid a debate on issues like coal scam.