BJP rejects Opposition charge over bill in Parliament without any scrutiny
New Delhi: Taking on the Opposition camp over its allegations of “hurried” passage of Bills in Parliament, without any scrutiny, the BJP on Sunday rejected Oppositions’ claim as “fundamentally wrong on facts” and reminded that during UPA-I and II rule only five bills were sent to the Rajya Sabha’s select committee while 17 bills were sent during the first regime of Narendra Modi led government.
The BJP national general secretary and Rajya Sabha member, Bhupendra Yadav said “it is surprising” that the opposition party members are objecting when Parlia-ment is utilising more of its time to enact laws and has enhanced its productive hours and is performing better than ever.
Last week, 17 Opposition parties, in a letter to the Rajya Sabha chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu, had raised concerns over the “hurried” passage of Bills in Parliament without any scrutiny and also bemoaned that the government was not allowing members sufficient time to study a Bill and move amendments.
Unlike in the Lok Sabha, the BJP led NDA is short of majority in the Rajya Sabha on its own and on various occasions the government’s key bills got stalled in the upper house because of lack of required number.
Rejecting the opposition parties claims, Mr Yadav, in a statement, said Parliamentary sessions earlier have been irregular due to interruptions and unnecessary interventions and said those disrupting short discussions and calling attention sessions after sessions in Rajya Sabha are the ones who are raising question on the functioning of the House.
“Members who are talking about work of Parliament must collectively introspect that why Monsoon Session 2015, Budget Session 2018, Winter Session 2018 and interim Budget Session 2019 were washed out (in Rajya Sabha). It is also surprising to see that instead of participating in the discussion in the House, they have been busy creating obstacles and are now raising issues with it performance,” said the senior BJP leader. He highlighted that while four sessions were washed out, the total number of short duration discussions were 29 against 27 during the UPA rule of 2009-14. Mr Yadav said many bills awaiting the Rajya Sabha’s nod are the ones which have been scrutinised and approved by parliamentary panels like select committee or standing committee and most of them have been passed by Lok Sabha.
He cited the examples of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, the triple talaq bill the National Medical Commission Bill, the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2019, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, the Code of Wages Bill, the Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill and the Companies Amendment Bill.
Noting that after a long time, the Rajya Sabha has witnessed productive long hours, Mr Yadav said “Parliament sessions have been irregular due to interruptions and unnecessary interventions. We should not forget that law making is Parliament’s primary function. The constructive feedback and intervention of the opposition plays an important role but opposition for the sake of opposition, should not be encouraged.”
