New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed disappointment at the absence of normal proceedings in Parliament’s Monsoon session leading to the passage of several bills amid the Opposition’s protests, and said bright and young MPs of the Congress do not get to participate in discussions due to the “insecurity” of its leadership.
Sources said Modi made these remarks at the customary informal meeting of leaders from different parties in Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s office after the House was adjourned sine die. Opposition leaders kept away from the get-together.
The sources added that he did not name Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the House who is leading his party’s agitation against the Election Commission’s drive to revise electoral rolls in Bihar, but his remarks were apparently aimed at him.
Modi singled out the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, which bans all real-money games and was passed by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha without discussion due to din, for praise and its wide positive implications due to the adverse impact on society by these online games.
He said the Monsoon session covered several important bills and regretted that they could not be discussed in Parliament, the sources said.
With opposition leaders skipping the meeting, someone in the get-together remarked that it has become increasingly difficult to bring the Congress on board as few of its leaders, who the government interacts with regularly, can influence the party’s decision, the prime minister said the Opposition has some bright young MPs.
They may be making the leadership “insecure”, he said, according to the sources.
The prime minister has in the past publicly echoed a similar view, while criticising the Gandhi family for putting its own interest above anything else.
Asked about the decision of opposition parties to keep away from the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Rijiju took a swipe at them saying their leaders might have been too “embarrassed” with their conduct during the session to attend it.
A united Opposition protesting the Special Intensive Review of electoral rolls in Bihar forced repeated adjournments in Parliament throughout the entire session, which began from July 21, demanding a discussion on the issue. The government pushed through its legislative agenda as the Opposition refused to relent.
Rijiju added that Congress functionaries who attend the meeting with the government over the business in Parliament often come to some understanding but cannot implement it. They might be facing pressure, he said, in an apparent swipe at Gandhi.
Senior BJP leaders and members of a few other parties, including those from the ruling alliance, attended the meeting.
The minister said it is “rare” for opposition leaders to boycott the meeting hosted by the Speaker over tea after the session concludes.
