The Samajwadi Party (SP) took up from where it had left off yesterday in the Rajya Sabha, refusing to allow anything to be heard to ensure stoppage of the constitutional amendment Bill for reservations in government promotions for scheduled castes and tribes (SC/ST).
It members rushed into the well of the House and stayed there, shouting. They were joined by the Shiv Sena members, whose party also opposes the Bill. However, the DMK, constituent of the ruling UPA and who’d been, till yesterday, demanding that quotas be also extended to the OBC, did a U-turn with party supremo M Karunanidhi appealing to all parties to help get the Bill passed.
The Congress’ plan of getting the house to function over this constitutional amendment was foiled as the main opposition grouping, the Bharatiya Janata Party, continued their sloganeering on a demand for the Prime Minister’s resignation on the coal allocation controversy. Despite appeals by Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, it refused to let the House function to discuss the quota issue.
With just a day more left for the monsoon session of Parliament to end, it is hard to see how the legislation can proceed, although government sources insisted it would be tabled tomorrow.
The BSP demanded the session be extended by 10-12 days so that the Bill could be passed. Mayawati said, “If the central government really wants the Bill to be passed, it should ensure smooth functioning of the House. It should find a middle path on the coal issue to end the disruptions caused by the BJP and its allies, as the coal scam is no less important.”
She accused both the BJP and the Congress of political opportunism.
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As for the DMK, after the requests from other leaders to Karunanidhi, the DMK patriarch directed all his MPs to support the constitutional amendment. Went his statement: “Only two days are remaining for the monsoon session to end. At this juncture, I request all the parties to extend their cooperation in passing the bill."
Yesterday, SP and BSP members had come to blows with their opposing stand over the SC/ST quota. Minister of state V Narayanasamy again attempted to get the Bill discussed but was not heard above the din.
The DMK, however, forced a calling attention motion in the Rajya Sabha on the “situation arising out of the repeated attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lakan navy”. As External Affairs minister S M Krishna was not present at noon despite the matter being taken up by the chair, causing consternation in the treasury benches, the issue was again taken up after lunch. Krishna was forced to table a written statement, as he could not be heard in the din.