Parliament adjourned sine die after month of disruptions, adjournments

New Delhi, December 16 (IANS): Both houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die on Friday, bringing to an end the month-long winter session marked by repeated disruptions and adjournments.   The winter session -- which started on November 16 -- saw repeated adjournments amid ruckus and chaos by opposition members protesting over demonetisation and other issues.   Altogether, the Lok Sabha lost almost 92 hours to disruptions while the Rajya Sabha lost more than 86 hours, according to information given by secretariats of both the houses.   The Lok Sabha worked for merely 19 hours in its 21 sittings, while the Rajya Sabha worked for 22 hours.   As a result of repeated disruptions, only two of the 330 listed questions in the Rajya Sabha could be answered orally. In the Lok Sabha, 50 of the 440 starred questions were answered orally.   In the Lok Sabha, the opposition wanted a debate on demonetisation under a rule entailing voting in the end. Opposition leaders later said they were ready for the debate without rule or vote.   However, the last couple of days witnessed angry exchanges between opposition and treasury benches as the ruling bloc, including Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, sought a debate on AgustaWestland issue. The government benches also slammed opposition parties for allegedly running money laundering racket by changing demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.   The lower house, however, did take up a discussion on demonetisation under Rule 193. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) member A.P. Jithender Reddy also started the debate, but it could not be taken up as other opposition parties created a ruckus.   Till the last day, opposition members kept submitting notices for adjourning the plower house proceedings to take up the debate but all notices were disallowed by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.   In the Rajya Sabha, the demonetisation debate started on the session's very first day. However, the opposition later sought the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi throughout the debate, and disrupted the house repeatedly as Modi kept away.   On Friday, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die shortly after the house met at 11 a.m., but not before Chairman M. Hamid Ansari, in an emotional speech, voiced anguish over disruptions in the house during the entire winter session.   "I had fervently hoped that I would not have to repeat what I said at the conclusion of the 221st session in December 2013," Ansari said.   "My hope stands belied. Regular and continuous disruptions characterised the session. The symbolism of dignified protest, so essential for orderly conduct of parliamentary proceedings, was abandoned," he said.   Ansari held both the treasury and opposition benches responsible for the bedlam.   Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan was also unhappy over the repeated adjournments.   Mahajan informed the house that it functioned for only 19 hours in 21 sittings. "It is not even 21 hours."   She said 91 hours and 59 minutes were wasted due to disruptions.   "This is not good for us. It maligns our image in the public," Mahajan said.   "I hope there will be no disruptions in the coming sessions and we will function in a better way," she added.   The Lok Sabha, in the entire session, passed four bills, of which two were finance bills related to Supplementary Demand for Grants, and other two were Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016, -- which was also passed by the Rajya Sabha -- and the Rights of Persons with Disability Bill, 2014.    

Parliamentary democracy under 'severe threat': Opp

  Accusing the government of stifling the opposition's voice and subjecting parliamentary democracy to a 'severe threat', opposition parties led by the Congress on Friday urged President Pranab Mukherjee to intervene.   A host of opposition leaders, including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, submitted a memorandum to Mukherjee expressing shock over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's refusal to make a statement on the 'draconian' demonetisation decision.   "It is unfortunate and unprecedented that the government itself has been deliberately disrupting and forcing adjournments of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. This is being done at the behest of senior ministers.   "Moreover, the Prime Minister has misled the nation by blaming the opposition," the parties said in the memorandum to Mukherjee.   "We are deeply concerned that the parliamentary democratic system itself is under severe threat," they said, claiming that their repeated efforts to debate and discuss the adverse fallout of demonetisation in parliament was stonewalled by the government.   While a host of opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress and the Janata Dal-United, participated in the meet, the Left Parties gave it a miss saying that the President has "no role to play in the matter".   The parties said the government's November 8 demonetisation move has created a "deep crisis" in the country, with millions affected by it.   "More than 97 people have lost their lives across the states while queuing up outside banks and ATMs," they said.   The parties also expressed shock over Modi's failure to make a statement on the demonetisation issue, informing all the lawmakers about the rationale behind the announcement, process of rollout and the way in which the pain of the masses can be alleviated.   "We were shocked when no such statement was forthcoming from the Prime Minister, as is the convention in parliamentary procedure," they said.   Talking to the media after the meeting, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge accused the government of violating all democratic norms.   "This government has endeavoured to break every principle of democracy and the entire responsibility of not allowing parliament to function lies with the government," he said.   He asserted that the opposition's repeated efforts to discuss in parliament the plight of the common people due to demonetisation was not paid heed to by the government.   "While the poorest of the poor continue to suffer, this government has avoided a discussion in parliament. They have not even categorically explained why the discussion could not take place," said Trinamool lawmaker Sudip Bandyopadhyay.   Among the leaders to participate in the meet were Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav and Trinamool Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien.   Giving the reason for the Left parties skipping the meet, Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said: "We have already said that the President can't do much in this mater. We should rather reach out to the masses."   Earlier this month, 16 opposition parties had petitioned Mukherjee over the passage of the Income Tax Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha without any discussion.