ANDLAIB AKHTER
The government and the opposition parties TODAY reached a consensus to end the deadlock in the ongoing winter session of Parliament, ensuring smooth functioning of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
The breakthrough came during a meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla of the Floor leaders of various political parties at the Parliament House on Monday afternoon. During the meeting, Mr Birla requested all the members to let the house to function smoothly and the leaders agreed to extend their support to run the house smoothly.
The meeting was attended by Gaurav Gogoi of Congress, Kalyan Banerjee of TMC, Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu of TDP, T R Baalu of DMK, Supriya Sule of NCP, Dharmendra Yadav of SP, Dileshwar Kamait of JD(U), Abhay Kushwaha of RJD, Arvind Sawant of Shiv Sena (UBT) among others.
Later, talking to reporters outside the Parliament, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said, the leaders who were present in the meeting have assured their support for smooth conduct of both the Houses of Parliament. He said, a special discussion on the Constitution to commemorate its 75th year of adoption, will be held in the Lok Sabha on 13th and 14th of this month. In the Rajya Sabha, the discussion will take place on 16th and 17th December.
Earlier, both the Houses of Parliament could not transact any substantive business on the fifth consecutive day today following the opposition’s continued ruckus over various issues including alleged bribery charges against a prominent business group and violence at Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh. Amid uproar, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha witnessed adjournments, first till noon and then for the day.