New Delhi: The government’s offer for a debate and Home Minister Amit Shah’s reply on student protests and police action failed to end the over three-week-long stalemate in Parliament on Monday, with the Congress insisting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi reply to a discussion on the alleged donation theft at the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
The government accused Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi of shifting goalposts and said he should not “run away” from discussion like a “coward”.
Upping the ante, Gandhi said Shah must come clean “whether he gave the firing orders or not” during the July 20 protest here and that either way the minister “should go”. The Congress said the three issues are “non-negotiable”.
The Monsoon session, which began on July 20, has been witnessing repeated disruptions due to protests by a combative Opposition on the the issues of student protest on NEET paper leak and Ram temple donation theft.
With the session slated to conclude on Thursday, there is a question mark on the fate of the crucial women’s reservation amendment bill, which fell in the last session, and the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Amendment Bill.
Of the nine bills cleared by the Lok Sabha, debate could take place only on two, while the rest were cleared without discussion amid noisy opposition protests.
Amid the logjam, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced on Monday that the government is ready for a full-fledged discussion in the Lok Sabha on the student protests and police action across the country and Home Minister Shah will reply to the debate, provided the opposition promises not to disrupt and listens peacefully.
The minister said the Congress and Rahul Gandhi have been demanding a statement from Home Minister Shah from day one, and the opposition party should not walk out during his statement. “It should not be scared,” he said in the Lok Sabha.
Rijiju’s announcement came shortly after a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the Lok Sabha where the agenda of the House for the next three days was discussed with members from different political parties.
Shah has not been seen in the House in the ongoing session even though he has been regularly coming to Parliament House complex.
“We have made it clear to the BAC of the Lok Sabha that the government is ready for a full-fledged discussion on the student and youth agitations that have been going on in different parts of the country as well as police action. The Home Minister will give a point-by-point reply to the debate on behalf of the government,” Rijiju told reporters after the BAC meeting in Parliament House complex.
However, he said the opposition has to assure that they will take part in the debate peacefully and will not disrupt the proceedings. They will listen to the Home Minister’s reply and “will not run away” after creating turmoil and sloganeering by citing some excuses.
Asked by the media whether the issue of alleged theft of donation will also be discussed in Parliament, he said the Uttar Pradesh government’s probe through an SIT and several other steps at the state government level have been going on.
The Congress, however, said Rijiju’s statement was intended to “mislead” the Opposition and accused the government of running away from its responsibility.
Rahul Gandhi asserted that the question was never about whether Shah can give a speech in Parliament on “general issues”. “The question was that Home Minister Shah has to make it clear who authorised the shooting of our children in Delhi. He is the home minister; pellet guns were fired,” he said, adding the minister must come clean whether he gave the firing orders or not.
If Shah ordered it, he is culpable, and if he did not know, he is incompetent, Gandhi said, adding that either way Shah “should go”.
Gandhi also said that the prime minister should apologise for the police action on students during the Janta Mantar protest.
The third issue is the donation “theft” at Ram temple, he said addressing a press conference alongside Congress president Mallikarju Kharge.
Kharge said the Opposition wanted a discussion on the two issues. But the government did not say anything for 14-15 days, which shows that they did not want a discussion.
“Under Modi ji’s trusted trustees, theft of donations took place. We wanted the guilty punished and the PM to make a statement, but the government did not pay heed to it,” he said.
Kharge said PM Modi should apologise because “lakhs of people have faith in the Ram temple”.
“These
three issues are non-negotiable. We are fighting on all three issues. We stand firm on these three issues; the government must reply on this,” he asserted.
The student protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) at Jantar Mantar here started on June 20 and culminated after 36 days on July 25 following the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as education minister and acceptance of other demands by the government.
The discontent spilt over into a massive march to Parliament on July 20, which witnessed a strong police response involving lathicharge and the use of tear gas shells.
Reacting to the Congress’ demands, Rijiju said it will now be clear to everyone as to who runs away from discussion. “Whether Congress has the guts to witness the reply of the Home Minister, we will see.”
“When the Home Minister is ready, Rahul Gandhi is running away. You level allegations and then run away. This is no good in democracy. You have to face it. I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that you should not run away by giving excuses.
“Now he is demanding a statement from the Prime Minister, an apology. This is nothing but drama. Only a coward runs away from discussion. Who is a coward? One who demands a debate but runs away when a debate takes place,” he said.
Union Minister J P Nadda alleged that Gandhi was deliberately disrupting the functioning of Parliament and trying to spread anarchy.
The Leader of Opposition is changing goalposts and running away from discussion on NEET paper leak, he alleged.
