The Opposition stalled proceedings in both the Houses of Parliament for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday over demonetisation issue and demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s presence. The Government, however, charged the Opposition with shying away from a debate, claiming it had run out of logical arguments and therefore disrupting Parliament.
Stepping up the heat on the Government, the Opposition also demanded a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for 70 people who died while waiting in the queues in the last few days following the demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. Both the Houses witnessed din with the Opposition members repeatedly running into the well and the BJP members raising slogans from the aisles.
Seeking Modi’s presence, the agitated Opposition said while the Prime Minister was talking about the demonetisation issue in public rallies and functions, he was yet to address Parliament on it. The Government maintained it was ready to answer to all queries posed by the Opposition. It was also accused of running away from the ongoing debate on the issue in the Rajya Sabha which started on November 16 and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will reply at the end of the discussion.
Unwilling to give any quarter to the Government, Sitaram Yechury(CPM) said in the Rajya Sabha the decision to demonetise was announced by the Prime Minister and therefore should be present in the House when members speak about the plight of common people.
Even as Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien said he cannot ask the Prime Minister to come to the House, leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the Opposition was ready for resumption of the discussion on the condition that Modi come to the Rajya Sabha to listen to hardships faced by people standing in lines all over the country.
Rejecting the Opposition demand for Modi’s presence, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the Opposition was coming up with new excuses every day to avoid the stalled discussion on the issue and appealed to the Chair to begin the debate.
Calling for a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to those who died in the last few days reportedly due to hardships caused by demonetisation, Sharad Yadav(JD-U) said these deaths took place following the Government’s decision. Similar demand was made by Mayawati(BSP) who also said situation was bad while Naresh Agrawal(SP) sought a compensation of Rs 50 lakh each. He also charged the Prime Minister with behaving like an autocrat not willing to listen to anyone.
The Upper House saw six adjournments due to pandemonium as the Opposition members including Congress and TMC time and again stormed into the well raising slogans. The ruling BJP raised counter slogans from the aisles forcing Kurien to admonish them as they were not supposed to do as sitting on the treasury benches.
In the lok Sabha, the Opposition, which was joined by AIADMK in targeting the Government, continued to press for a debate under a rule which entails voting even as the ruling side vehemently resisted it.
Amid noisy Opposition protests, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar maintained that the government was willing to debate every aspect of the issue.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandhopadhyay said they wanted a debate but demanded the Prime Minister’s presence. Due to the uproar, the House was adjourned for the day, just after noon.