Rajya Sabha Vice Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday expressed anguish over frequent disruptions in ongoing Parliament session with the Congress demanding an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks against his predecessor Manmohan Singh.
One more day was washed out in the Upper House, as the Congress MPs continued their protest against Modi’s remarks against Singh and others over a dinner meeting they had with Pakistani leaders.
The disruptions, however, did not deter Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Agarwal from demanding a salary hike for parliamentarians. He said no decision on hiking salary was being taken fearing media criticism. TV anchors on the other hand were paid Rs five crore a year, he claimed.
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien also managed to speak before Congress started its protest. He raised the issue of blackout of Rajya Sabha TV while Congress members were protesting on Thursday.
These were “democratic scenes” and people should get to watch them, he said. Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad demanded that the House be adjourned till afternoon to enable talks with the government to end the stalemate.
As Congress MPs stood up to endorse Azad’s demand, Naidu adjourned the House till Wednesday saying, “There is no need for you all to raise the same issue every day. The Leader of the Opposition has spoken and I have taken note of it. There are others waiting to speak. Yesterday, Sachin Tendulkar was to speak on an important issue but you did not allow him.”
Later, Naidu met Azad, Congress deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel in his chamber to thrash out a solution. (Dh News)
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