Ahead of Monsoon Session, Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu today urged political parties to stop blame game over House disruptions, saying smooth functioning of Parliament is a shared responsibility of the ruling and opposition parties.
Expressing anguish over the last two sessions of the Upper House ending in what he called a lose-lose' situation for all sections of the House and also the people, he urged all parties and leaders to ensure a win-win' Monsoon Session and sought their cooperation.
He said no party can bring the House to a standstill pressing for the Government's response. He also assured that all issues will be allowed to be raised under the Rules.
Eight ministers and 23 leaders belonging to 20 parties today attended a meeting convened by Naidu, a day ahead of the start of Monsoon Session tomorrow.
Referring to Rajya Sabha disruptions during the last session, Naidu said, "No party can bring the House to a standstill insisting on Government's response even as the members and parties have a right to seek such a response."
"The better way would be to talk it out, walk out or vote out. If the Government of the day is found to be unresponsive to genuine issues, it should be taken to the people instead of forcing adjournment of the House through persistent disruptions.
Referring to feedback from the people during his tours across the country during the last 11 months, Naidu said they are distressed over parliamentary disruptions. He also referred to a recent survey in which people have expressed their lack of trust and confidence in the Parliament and political parties.
Naidu urged both the ruling and opposition parties to stop the mutual blame game' over persistent disruptions. He stressed that it was time to recalibrate the conventional position that it was the responsibility of the government to run the House and it should be seen as a shared responsibility.
Referring to news reports about the meeting of opposition parties yesterday, Naidu said his hopes of a productive session were rekindled by their assertion of keenness for an effective Monsoon Session.
He said Parliament is the best forum for articulating different view points and should be made effective use of instead of allowing political considerations play out in the House.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh observed that all the leaders endorsed the concerns and sentiments expressed by Naidu.
Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said that over 90% of the parties in the House always desired smooth functioning of the House and those who are agitated over issues of concern to their states need to be appropriately reached out by the Government.
He said the opposition has about 10 issues for discussion in the House and some of them could be taken up during the monsoon session. He suggested that the government should start with bills that have wider acceptance instead of taking up contentious issues.
Those who attended the meeting included Union ministers Ananth Kumar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal, Vijay Goel; Manmohan Singh, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma of Congress, Sharad Pawar (NCP), Sukhendu Sekhar Roy (TMC), Prasanna Acharya (BJD), Satish Chandra Mishra (BSP), Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena), Naresh Gujral (SAD), Y S Chowdary (TDP), K Keshava Rao (TRS), T K Rangarajan (CPM) and D Raja (CPI).
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