Regretting that the 15th Lok Sabha has set the
record of maximum wastage of time, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday
said that MPs who disrupt proceedings should be suspended.
Singh was speaking at a discussion where BJP leader
Ravi Shankar Prasad said that it was the lack of discipline in the ruling party
which disrupted the proceedings.
"A record of maximum wastage of time has been created
during the 15th Lok Sabha ... The public sends representatives so that they
answer questions and take part in discussions. But more time goes in protests
by members that you hear us or we'll not allow the proceedings," Singh
said.
He said that despite there being rules in Lok Sabha
as well as Rajya Sabha, no action is taken against the people who do not allow
Parliament to function.
"There is a rule in Lok Sabha's business rules
that whoever comes to the well of the house is automatically suspended but it
has not been used. But it seems that the rule should be used so that the people
can get a chance to discuss the rail budget or important bills," Singh
said.
Singh, who was speaking at a discussion organised by
TV channel 'Aaj Tak', said that the challenge was that the faith of the people
in politics and politicians was waning and people should not feel that no work
is done in Parliament.
Responding to Singh, Prasad said that from 11am
onwards when Parliament assembles, his party MPs sit silent as the ruling party
members disrupt proceedings.
"Don't they have no control over their members.
For three days in Rajya Sabha, their own members have been coming to the well
of the house, saying create Telangana. We have also supported the demand, but
their ministers .... but their own chief minister sits on a dharna against
it," Prasad, who is BJP's deputy leader in Rajya Sabha, said.
The two leaders also sparred over the performance of
Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi who is the BJP's prime ministerial
candidate.
Reacting to the remarks of the BJP leader, Singh
said that even before the Telangana issue arose, it had become common since
2009 to stall Parliament over a particular issue.
On the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, he said his
party favoured contesting elections on issues rather than personalities.
Questioning the BJP prime ministerial candidate's
record of governance in Gujarat, Singh asked which state had more than 20 of
its police officers in jail. He also asked which state had seen an increase in
the number of the malnourished.
Defending Modi, Prasad said the figures had shown
the number of the malnourished had come down in Gujarat and the people in the
state had rejected the claims being made.
To a question on caste issue, Prasad said that BJP
had promoted leaders from backward sections of the society.
Prasad also questioned Singh's claim of being
secular and asked as to why he had been raising questions about the Batla house
encounter. Singh responded by saying he had only demanded a judicial inquiry
into the incident.
The BJP leader wanted to know why the country's
economy had suffered when the government was being headed by an economist.
Singh retorted by saying that the performance of the
UPA government was better than that of NDA.
To a question on AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, Prasad
said simplicity is not flaunted and added there were leaders who washed their
own clothes but never highlighted it.
Post a Comment