No debate on GST Bill in RS as Opp fumes on India Inc's views

The Opposition in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday took strong objection to India Inc calling for a smooth functioning of Parliament and charged the Government with using some media houses and business houses to target the Congress.JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav said the claim that the BJP Government was “a Govern-ment for moneybags has been vindicated” by the “attack on Parliament by capitalists.”

leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley refuted Yadav’s assertion and sought to know from him if the common man was not in favour of Parliament running and legislating. The Treasury and Opposition Benches then engaged in a slanging match with Congress members trooping into the Well raising slogans. The Rajya Sabha continued to witness pandemonium and failed to transact any business including a discussion on Goods and Services Tax(GST) Bill due to adjournments.

Raising the issue of India Inc urging lawmakers to let Parliament run, Yadav said now some business houses were trying to dictate to the legislature and said Parliament represents 125 crore Indians.  He was referring to an online signature campaign in which over 15,000 people, including the country’s top industrialists, have urged lawmakers to allow Parliament to function, debate and legislate.

Jaitley shot back and asked Yadav “does the common man want Parliament not to functionIJ You are guilty of stalling democracy.” This comment triggered Congress members to rush to the Well raising slogans against the Government, forcing first adjournment till noon.When the House reassembled for the Question Hour, leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said Yadav had raised an important issue involving the prestige of the House, as some industrialists were trying to “teach us how to run Parliament.”

“There have been comments made against MPs everyday. It is a question of Parliament’s prestige. The ruling party is using media and business houses to attack the Congress,” he said, charging the Government with “terrorising” channels who do not toe their line, but “this cannot terrorise MPs.”

Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M) said questions were being raised on the functioning of the House and business houses are telling MPs how to run Parliament. “They cannot interfere with our work. We also want the House to run,” he said, demanding that there be a discussion on the IPl row along with voting, as was being done in the lok Sabha. 

Hitting back at Yadav for raising the issue, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu termed the JD(U) leader’s statement a “classic case of shooting the messenger.” Naidu said he was surprised over Yadav’s charge and said over 18,000 people made the online representation and claimed that petitioners included Sanjay Baru, Professor Piyush Kumar Sinha of IIM-Ahmedabad and Dr Naresh Trehan.

“Is Dr Naresh Trehan a big industrialistIJ Sanjay Baru was an adviser to former PM. It is the wish of the Indian people. You must congratulate them. They are expressing the wish of the people. People want the Parliament to function,” Naidu told reporters.Maintaining that people want the GST Bill to be taken up and the economy and standard of living to improve, Naidu said that many people believe that once the GST is rolled out, the GDP of the country will grow by between 1.5 to 2 per cent. He then took a dig at Yadav and said the JD(U) leader all along opposed Congress and was now “comfortable with the Congress”.