CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday said he had moved a contempt notice against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Rajya Sabha for his continued absence from the upper house.
"I have submitted the text of the notice to the Rajya Sabha Secretary General. If it is accepted, I will seek a discussion tomorrow (Friday). If not, we will seek reasons for the notice's rejection," the Communist Party of India-Marxist leader told reporters.
He said four lakh people have lost their jobs in the last few days and millions of daily wagers were not getting paid because of the November 8 demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency.
"Why doesn't the government allow all white transactions through old notes or make alternate arrangements?" he said.
Yechury accused the Prime Minister of not taking out time to meet a Kerala government delegation over the demonetisation issue.
"The Kerala government had sought time from the Prime Minister, but he doesn't have time to meet farmers and labourers," he said.
Yechury said it was not the opposition but Modi who was running away from the debate on demonetisation.
"Who is running away from the debate? We are there. The Prime Minister is not there -- he is running away."
He said when the Rajya Sabha discussed the 2G spectrum scam, the then Prime Minister Manomohan Singh sat in the upper house for two days, after which a Joint Parliamentary Committee was formed to probe the issue.
On November 22, Yechury told the media that Modi was to be blamed for the continued disruptions in Parliament over demonetisation and held his continued absence from both houses amounted to "contempt of Parliament".
"If the discussion is on one of Prime Minister's announcements, he should be there to listen to the debate... It is incumbent upon the Prime Minister to come to both houses on Day One itself. But he is still not doing so.
"He is in Parliament premises but doesn't come to the house. This amounts to contempt of Parliament," he added.
The CPI-M leader said his party was contemplating to move the contempt notice against the Prime Minister after consulting the entire opposition.
--IANS
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