The standoff between the government and the Opposition in Parliament was resolved Tuesday as both sides agreed to hold a discussion on the national song Vande Mataram as well as electoral reforms in which the Opposition would raise the contentious issue of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being undertaken by the Election Commission (EC) in nine states and three Union Territories.
At an all-party meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, it was decided that the House will take up separate discussions on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram and electoral reforms early next week.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will initiate the day-long discussion on Vande Mataram on December 8 in the Lok Sabha, which will debate electoral reforms on December 9 and 10.
The Lok Sabha’s Business Advisory Committee (BAC), which met after the all-party meeting, allotted 10 hours each for the two discussions. Sources said Home Minister Amit Shah could intervene in the electoral reforms debate, with Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghawal replying to it.
Sources said the Rajya Sabha is likely to follow a similar timeline to debate these two issues next week. A government source said once a discussion is completed in the Lok Sabha, the Upper House will take it up.
The stalemate ended after multiple meetings Tuesday – the Speaker meeting the Lok Sabha floor leaders twice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju meeting the leaders once.
Both the Houses witnessed disruptions for the second consecutive day with the Opposition members continuing with their protest to demand a discussion on the SIR row.
The Lok Sabha will now function normally for the remaining days of the week, sources said. However, the Opposition INDIA bloc leaders are expected to meet at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence on Wednesday morning to finalise their floor strategies for the coming days.
At the Speaker-convened meeting on Tuesday morning, there was a broad agreement between the two sides for a discussion on Vande Mataram followed by one on electoral reforms.
Subsequently, Rijiju had a meeting with the Rajya Sabha’s floor leaders, where the Opposition insisted that the discussion on electoral reforms should precede the one on Vande Mataram, which the government did not favour.
The divisions in the Opposition camp also came to the fore with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) insisting on taking up a discussion this week itself, while others, including the Congress, appeared agreeable to the government’s suggestion for holding it next week.
The Opposition however together insisted that electoral reforms should be discussed first, maintaining that the ongoing SIR exercise has remained a pressing issue.
“The government continues its tactics to disrupt. The government does not want the Parliament to run,” TMC leader Derek O’Brien said as he came out of the meeting. SP leader Dharmendra Yadav said his party was with the TMC over their demand for immediate discussion on the SIR affair.
The SP MPs did not participate in the Opposition’s protest on the issue in the Parliament premises in the morning, with the TMC charting its own course.
But the government, which climbed down from its earlier stance that the SIR cannot be discussed in Parliament, was clear that it was ready to meet the Opposition only half-way. That it will accept the Opposition’s demand for a discussion on electoral reforms but it should be preceded by the Vande Mataram debate.
Rijiju also made this point to the Rajya Sabha in the afternoon. “We would like to propose from the government’s side a discussion related to further electoral reforms. My specific appeal is that when the government is ready to take up the discussion, please do not put a condition that it should take precedence over other matters. Vande Mataram is a matter related to our freedom struggle. Matter related to electoral reforms is also extremely very important. But to precede it with discussion on Vande Mataram may not be appropriate,” he said.
Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House, however demanded an immediate discussion over SIR, saying that as per Rule 267 (invoking which the Opposition members were submitting notices), all other issues should be kept aside.
Derek O’Brien and DMK MP Tiruchi Siva also appealed to the Chair and the government to give priority to the SIR discussion, claiming that the government was not keeping its word. The CPM’s John Brittas said when everyone favoured a discussion, why the government was being “obstinate”.
At the Lok Sabha BAC meeting attended by ministers Piyush Goyal and Rijiju, the Opposition leaders said the Vande Mataram debate should be held next week as they needed time to prepare for it. The ministers are then learnt to have contacted the PMO to check the Prime Minister’s availability on Monday. Once they got the go-ahead, the timeline for the discussions was finalised.
“The all-party floor leaders’ meeting called by the Speaker was very fruitful and we all agreed that there will be a special discussion on the 150th anniversary of the national song Vande Mataram on Monday. The discussion will start at 12 noon and will go for the full day. It was also agreed that on Tuesday there will be a discussion on election reforms. And when we discuss reforms in elections, you can discuss and talk about many issues related to elections and its process in our country. So finally everybody has agreed for the discussions,” Rijiju told reporters.
Later, signalling a convergence in the Opposition’s position, Derek O’Brien said, “A responsible Opposition has done all it takes to get Parliament to function. We have been gracious and accommodating, even though we are up against a government which mocks Parliament. Yes, a discussion on SIR was, and is, a top priority (people are dying). However, in the spirit of parliamentary democracy, we accepted the government’s proposal about timing and made a tactical change. We will expose the government in both debates. Bring it on.”
— With inputs from Nikhil Ghanekar