Several Opposition leaders on Monday protested the government’s rush to introduce and pass bills without discussion during the last week of the monsoon session of Parliament, but the Centre justified the push and accused the Opposition of obstruction.
The Lok Sabha had to be adjourned thrice following uproar by the Opposition demanding a discussion on the Pegasus snooping row and other issues, but the government managed to complete the day’s business by introducing three bills and passing three others with voice vote in a matter of minutes.
The Congress protested most vociferously but others too joined when The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Amendment Bill was taken up for passage, coinciding with the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.
“International tribals day is being celebrated today and we wanted to speak a lot, but due to the arrogance of this government no discussion is taking place,” leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Chowdhury, said when the ST bill was being taken up.
Adhir sought to emphasise that the Congress supported the bill, but was forced to protest in the House because the government was not accepting the Opposition’s demand for a discussion on the Pegasus snooping row first.
“On behalf of the Trinamul Congress, we also support the bill... but the bill should be withheld for a detailed discussion later. We are not being allowed to discuss many issues like Pegasus,” TMC’s leader in the Lok Sabha, Sudip Bandopadhyay, said.
Shiv Sena’s Vinayak Raut said: “We should have had a detailed discussion... but unfortunately this important bill is being passed without any discussion.”
“It’s quite unfortunate the manner in which the bill is being passed,” Revolutionary Socialist Party MP N.K. Premchandran said. “Passing 3 bills in 10 minutes is against the rules.”
DMK’s T.R. Baalu, NCP’s Supriya Sule and BSP’s Ritesh Mishra also slammed the manner in which the bills were being passed.
Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi stood up to counter the Opposition allegations and said the government was ready for discussion.
“The government is ready for a long discussion. I appeal to the Opposition members to retreat from the well of the House and go back to their seats and allow a discussion,” Joshi, who had termed Pegasus a “non-issue”, said.
Finally, the bill to modify the list of Scheduled Tribes by adding new communities from Arunachal Pradesh was passed with a voice vote without discussion.
The constitutional amendment bill to give rights to states to have their own OBC list was introduced on Monday and will be taken up for passage on Tuesday.
The Opposition has decided to support the bill, claiming it was because of protests by them and the OBC groups that the government had to come up with the amendment. The Opposition could use the discussion over the bill to raise the Pegasus issue on which the government is reluctant to have a discussion in Parliament.
A discussion on Covid management was also listed on Monday, but couldn’t be taken up as the House was adjourned for the day at 2pm.
The monsoon session is scheduled to conclude on Friday.
