Opposition in knot after Delhi Bill debate, faces charges of selective fury
Photo credit Twitter @Kharge
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, August 3: The Opposition appears to have succumbed to a self-goal by taking part in the debate over the Delhi Services (amendment) Bill. The nine days of the Parliamentary disruptions in pressing for the demand for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make a substantive statement took a break on Thursday as the full House of the Lok Sabha witnessed a spirited discussion over the Delhi Services (Amendment) Bill.
A combative Amit Shah, Union Minister for Home Affairs, asked: “A number of bills came before the House in the last nine days. They were also of great importance for the people of the country. But you didn’t take part in discussions. Now, you have forgotten Manipur, and took part in the discussion over the Delhi Bill.”
The Congress, which is spearheading the Parliamentary disruptions by insisting on the statement by the prime minister before a discussion on the ethnic violence in Manipur, took part in the debate over the Delhi Bill. Ironically, the Congress had taken weeks to decide to oppose the Delhi Bill even while the party leaders from the city had been opposing the Arvind Kejriwal-led government.
Now, the Lok Sabha held a disruption free debate and Speaker Om Birla, who was said to have been miffed at the repeated disruptions, presided over the proceedings of the House. The Rajya Sabha tomorrow is likely to see a similar debate before the bill is taken up for the passage.
Now, the Opposition may find it hard to explain why it allowed an exception to its strategy to disrupt the proceedings of Parliament. The AAP, incidentally, had set the condition that all the Opposition parties must oppose the Bill in Parliament. The compulsion of the alliance of Indian National Developmental and Inclusive Alliance appears to have tied the Opposition outfits in knot and given the ruling BJP the handle to drum up the hypocrisy charge against them over their commitment to the Manipur issue.
Some of the Opposition outfits had been war of the strategy of parliamentary disruptions and also the insistence on the prime minister making a statement. They believe that the demand would never be met, for Modi never bows down to the Opposition pressure. With the no-confidence motion slated for being taken up in the last three days of the Monsoon session of Parliament, Modi would have been forced by the Opposition to speak on the Manipur issue in his reply to the debate.
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