Following repeated adjournments of both houses of Parliament in the first week of the Winter Session, Congress Lok Sabha Deputy Leader Gaurav Gogoi and senior MP K C Venugopal met with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, urging action to ensure smooth proceedings.
“We already met with the Speaker, and our only demand is that he has to take action to run the House smoothly. We are ready to run the House provided there should be a discussion on the Constitution, which they promised us,” Venugopal told media.
Ahead of the day’s session, INDIA bloc parties convened in the chambers of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to strategize and explore solutions to break the deadlock in Parliament.
Despite these efforts, both houses of Parliament were adjourned amid protests and slogans by opposition parties, demanding discussions on issues including the Adani controversy, violence in Manipur, and the situation in Sambhal.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor expressed disappointment over the continued disruptions, calling it detrimental to the country. He criticized the government’s lack of initiative in cooperating with the opposition to allow parliamentary discussions.
“Terrible situation. The government must make an effort…We have always had this approach that the onus is on the government to make the Parliament function. They should cooperate with the opposition and find common ground. The opposition has proposed a solution, which is to have a debate on the Constitution. If the government concedes, I am sure the Parliament would function. It is bad for the country, bad for the voters, and bad for us. But the government must make some effort instead of putting all the onus on the opposition. In every democracy, there is an agreement on what issues should be discussed. Where is the agreement here?” Tharoor said.
Both houses, which reconvened at noon after initial adjournments since the sessions began at 11 am, were once again adjourned for the day due to the stalemate.