Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 30: Apprehending that the budget session of Parliament from Monday to be a stormy one on several issues, particularly the on-going farmers’ agitation, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday attempted to allay the fears of the opposition parties that the government might shut its doors the agriculturists after the Republic Day mayhem in Delhi.
Presiding over an all-party meeting to discuss smooth functioning of Parliament, Modi emphasized that the government’s offer to suspend implementation of the contentious farm laws for 18 months to pave way for a negotiated settlement of the disputes with the agitating farmers still hold ground, hinting that the government stand had not changed after the violence and the desecration of the iconic Red Fort where some hooligans hoisted religious flags.
“The government’s stand on the farmers demand is the same as it was on January 22 when the agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar conveyed the government’s offer to the farmers to hold the implementation of the acts for 18 months,” Modi told the meeting. “Tomar is only one phone call away to resume the negotiations for an agreed settlement as soon as the farmers conveyed the acceptance of the government’s offer,” he said.
Even as the government has offered to put the new laws in abeyance for 18 months, a section of protesting farmers and opposition parties are adamant on the laws being repealed. Speaking at the meeting, Modi said the discussions in Parliament would be a way out of the current logjam, Even as a clutch of opposition parties demanded more discussions on the new farm laws. Modi said his government was constantly trying to resolve the issues raised by the protesting farmers through discussion.
Briefing media persons on the all-party meeting, Parliamentary affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi said the Prime Minister told the meeting that the government was ready for discussions on a range of issues that the opposition wants. He said discussion would be taken up in the second half of the budget session.
The Prime Minister also noted that disruptions in Parliament affect the smaller parties the most. He said smaller parties must get more time to speak in Parliament and that they must prevail on the parties with more representatives to not disrupt the functioning.
Some of the leaders present at the meeting said most of the floor leaders agreed that Parliament must be allowed to function and the issues related to the farm agitation could be taken up during the discussions on the President’s address and during the discussion on the budget.
According to Joshi, Modi told the meeting that in today’s global scenario India could make great contributions to the world. “It will lead to development and the poor will be benefited with that development. It’s not a question of credit to government but of success of the nation. So Modi said everyone must make an effort together to make contributions and that the government was ready for all discussions required for this, Joshi said.
He said the prime minister also condemned the vandalisation of Mahatma Gandhi statue in the US. “A statue of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalised in the US (in California). This is a huge insult. The PM has strongly condemned it,” Joshi added.
BJD’s Pinaki Misra who was present at the meeting said, Odisha chief minister and BJD president, Naveen Patnaik, has specifically requested the Union government to have the women’s reservation bill passed in this budget session. The YSR Congress and the TRS, too, backed Odisha CM’s demand for the passage of women’s reservation bill in the forthcoming session. The bill was earlier passed in Rajya Sabha in 2010.
On Friday, the Prime Minister had expressed hope that MPs from across political parties will contribute to make the budget session effective in meeting the aspirations of the people. The opposition parties, which boycotted the President‘s address on Friday, are likely to attack the government on a raft of issues, including the ongoing farmers’ agitation for repealing the contentious farm laws, escalation of tensions between India and China along the line of actual control and the government’s response to the corona pandemic and its impact on the economy.
