Floor leaders of INDIA bloc parties on Monday morning wrote to the Lok Sabha Speaker insisting that leaders of the Opposition in both Houses be allowed to speak at Tuesday’s Constitution Day event, arguing that if the Prime Minister can, they can too.

By afternoon, the government clarified that the Prime Minister was not scheduled to speak at the function to mark the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution on November 26, 1949. The Opposition, after going through the programme schedule, said the issue had been resolved.

Part of the friction apparently arose from the absence of information regarding the programme till the eleventh hour. This was evident from the Opposition letter itself which said: “We understand that the function will be addressed by the President, Vice-President and the Prime Minister of India.”

The letter added: “We believe that in the best traditions and interests of parliamentary democracy, the Leaders of Opposition (LoPs) in both Houses should also be given an opportunity to speak on this historic occasion.”

Leaders of the Congress, Samajwadi Party, DMK, Aam Aadmi Party, CPI, CPM and the IUML signed the letter.

Later, during the media briefing on the Constitution Day celebrations, Union ministers were asked about the Opposition demand. Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju sought to make it look like the Opposition had jumped the gun.

“The problem with some of the Opposition parties is that without knowing the actual arrangement, they started giving their reaction. Honourable PM is not even speaking tomorrow…. The Speaker, Vice-President and the President of India will speak. Secondly, we have made arrangements for seating the leaders of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on the dais. Without knowing anything, this kind of reaction on a very solemn occasion itself is condemnable.”

Opposition party leaders maintained that they had written to the Speaker fearing that the LoPs might be sidelined at the event.