Both Houses of Parliament will continue to witness disruptions until Home Minister Amit Shah makes a statement on the December 13 security lapse that allowed two visitors to intrude into the Lok Sabha chamber, the Congress said on December 15, even as it accused Mr. Shah of “contempt of Parliament”.
Addressing a press conference at the All India Congress Committee headquarters, party general secretary (communication) Jairam Ramesh asked why Mr. Shah could not speak in Parliament when he could talk about it at a media conclave.
Mr. Ramesh said that the collective stand of the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners was that the Home Minister should come to both Houses of the Parliament, make a statement and take questions on the issue.
“There has been a tradition that when Parliament is in session, Ministers speak in the House. But our Home Minister is so arrogant that he can go to a TV channel and speak at length but he won’t make the same statement in Parliament...It is a contempt of Parliament and parliamentary traditions,” Mr. Ramesh said.
The Congress leader said that though Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar had invited Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the House Piyush Goyal for a meeting to break the impasse, the Opposition did not attend.
UAPA case
Without getting into the merits of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) being pressed against Lok Sabha intruders, Mr. Ramesh said the fact that an anti-terror law had been slapped showed the gravity of the situation and merited a statement from Mr. Shah.
“Usually, the Home Minister never misses an opportunity but this is an issue where he cannot hold Pandit [Jawaharlal] Nehru. I am sure if he [Mr. Shah] could establish a link between Pandit Nehru with what happened, he would have definitely made a statement in the Parliament,” Mr. Ramesh said, taking a dig at the Home Minister.
The Congress leader asserted that INDIA bloc MPs had given it in writing to the Rajya Sabha Chairman and the Lok Sabha Speaker to direct the Home Minister to make a statement on the floor of the House and have a discussion for one-two hours.
“I think they [the government] want to divert attention from the questions that are being asked of BJP MP Pratap Simha,” Mr. Ramesh claimed.
The Congress general secretary reiterated that his party as well as the INDIA bloc did not have any intention to disrupt proceedings in Parliament and argued for a middle ground.
