Rajya Sabha failed to transact any business again today as ruling and opposition sides engaged in heated arguments over continued disruptions amid protests over appointment of two Governors and signing of the Naga accord allegedly without consulting the states concerned.
The opposition said that not consulting the Chief Ministers of states concerned with regard to appointment of Governors to Bihar and Himachal Pradesh as also the signing of the Naga accord demolishes the talk of cooperative federalism.
While the opposition accused the government of making no effort to end the deadlock, the ruling side hit back by saying that Congress was resorting to "disruption" as a determined strategy of not allowing Parliament to function.
Leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said there is an "uneasy impression" that disruption over External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was only a "pretext" and "the real reason was that they (Congress) does not want the GST Constitution Amendment Bill to get passed".
Trouble broke out when K C Tyagi (JD-U) raised the issue of Governors by wanting to move a motion under Rule 267 seeking suspension of business to discuss the appointments.
To enable him to speak, Congress members, who over shouting slogans in the Well over Lalit Modi and Vyapam issues, retreated to their seats.
Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad also raised the issue of appointment of Governors and the Naga accord issue.
"New things are coming up...The concept of cooperative federalism has been demolished," he said, while claiming that the Chief Ministers of the states concerned were not consulted over appointment of Governors or the Naga accord.
In this context, he asked, "how will the deadlock end?"
At this, Jaitley said the government repeatedly tried to end the logjam but the opposition said that it was a considered decision not to allow Parliament to function.
Referring to the Naga accord signed with NSCN(IM), he said the Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states of Northeast had welcomed the pact in tweets but retracted after "pressure" from the party.
