New Delhi, Feb 9 (IANS) The Congress on Monday accused the BJP-led Central government of deliberately preventing the Opposition from speaking in the Parliament, calling it detrimental to democracy and urging the Lok Sabha Speaker to act impartially.
Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda termed it “unfortunate” that Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to speak.
“There is a long-standing tradition in Parliament that when the Leader of the Opposition seeks to intervene, he is allowed to do so. But the government now says the Opposition should speak only on issues where there is consensus. This is not good for democracy,” Hooda said, adding that eventually both the government and the Speaker would understand the gravity of the situation.
Echoing similar concerns, fellow party MP Varsha Gaikwad questioned the manner in which Opposition members were addressed in the House and the alleged assumptions made about their intent. “We are elected representatives who understand our responsibility to raise people’s issues. The Leader of the Opposition is not allowed to speak, while members from the ruling party are given a full opportunity. That is why we protested,” she said.
Gaikwad stressed that parliamentary rules must apply uniformly. “We expect the Speaker to function impartially and without bias. There cannot be two sets of rules, one for the ruling party and another for the Opposition,” she added.
Congress MP Jothimani Sennimalai said women MPs had written to the Speaker over what she described as wild and unsubstantiated allegations. She said the protest began last week after the Leader of the Opposition was unfairly denied an opportunity to speak and it was still continuing. “There was no discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, yet the Prime Minister responded. Without discussion, how can there be a reply?” she asked.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram also criticised the repeated adjournments of the House. “It is deeply disappointing that the government has no intention of letting Parliament function. They adjourn the House on flimsy grounds. The Leader of the Opposition only wanted a few minutes to speak, but was denied, as if a censor board’s clearance was required,” he said.
The Congress maintained that restricting debate and silencing dissent undermined parliamentary democracy and accountability.
–IANS
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