Leader of the Congress in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad has said that the opposition's main concerns are the Rafale deal, autonomy of the RBI, aftermath of demonetisation, 'intolerance', etc. In the meeting, representatives of the opposition gave no assurance to PM Modi that the House will be allowed to function smoothly.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday appealed to all political parties to ensure smooth functioning of the House ahead of the winter session of the Parliament. He also assured that all issues would be discussed in the House. This follows the Prime Minister's meeting with representatives of the opposition on Monday.
"I hope members will spend their time in the house for the welfare of the people, not for themselves or their parties," PM Modi said.
On Monday, the government held a meeting with leaders of all the parties to discuss how the session could be run smoothly.
“The session is important; many issues of public importance will be taken up. I have faith that all the members of the Parliament will respect this sentiment and move ahead. Our efforts are that discussions are held on all issues,” said Modi.
The winter session of the Parliament is likely to witness a fierce battle between the government and the Opposition on the issues like Rafale deal, RBI governor's exit, CBI controversy, etc.
The Prime Minister also said that they have tried discussing all the issues raised by the Opposition but sometimes they turn into a heated argument.
“ The government will try its best to solve all the issues raised by the Opposition,” Modi added.
However, at the end of the all-party meeting on Monday, leader of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said it would press for debates on the "misuse of investigative agencies" by the government to target political rivals, problems faced by farmers, fall in the value of rupee, rise in prices of petroleum products, security of women and "erosion of the RBI's autonomy". This implies that the smooth functioning of the Houses was not a priority of the opposition.
The Congress had also said after the meeting that it would press for a joint parliamentary committee inquiry into the Rafale deal and raise the issue of alleged misuse of electronic voting machines when Parliament's winter session opens on Tuesday.
As expected, therefore, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Tuesday had to be adjourned amid serious disagreements between the government and the opposition over the agendas of the two Houses.
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