- Friday, May 03, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Monday (19) urged parliamentarians and parties to ask the government sharpest and toughest questions in the monsoon session starting the same day but also added that the government should be allowed to respond to them.
Speaking with the media ahead of the session, Modi said he wanted meaningful discussions in the parliament over the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic which has gripped the entire world. He said he has requested all floor leaders in the legislature to take some time out on Tuesday (20) evening when he would like to give them detailed information on the pandemic.
“We want discussion inside Parliament as well as outside it with floor leaders on Covid pandemic,” he said.
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Modi said the government is ready to give the answers that the people of the country want. “I urge all MPs and political parties to ask the sharpest and the toughest of questions but they should also allow the government to respond in a cordial environment as democracy is strengthened by conveying the truth to the people,” he said, adding such a practice increases the trust of the people and improves the pace of development.
The prime minister’s appeal came at a time when the Opposition was planning to corner the government over a host of issues, including its handling of the second wave of the pandemic, rise in fuel prices, farmers’ agitation and the latest report that more than 300 verified mobile phone numbers, including that of two serving ministers, could have been targeted for hacking through an Israeli spyware.
Modi said he is constantly meeting with the chief ministers of states besides attending all kinds of discussions that are happening in different forums. He hoped the monsoon session proved to be productive and said the government is fully prepared to give the people of the country the answers they want.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader also spoke on the ongoing vaccination programme in the country saying it was happening at a fast pace. He also urged the parliamentarians to cooperate in following the Covid protocols.
“Now this vaccine is applied on the baahu (arms), and when the vaccine is applied, one becomes a ‘baahubali‘ (strong man). And the only way to become a ‘baahubali’ is to get a vaccine jab on your arm,” he said. “So far more than 40 crore people have become ‘baahubali’ in the fight against coronavirus. This work is being taken forward at a very fast pace,” he said.
Earlier, the opposition parties met at the parliament house to chalk out a joint strategy to take on the Modi government. Senior Congress member of the Lok Sabha Manish Tiwari moved an adjournment motion on the issue of farmers’ stir. In his notice, Tiwari said he sought to discuss a definite matter of urgent importance, like “in large numbers, farmers have come out against the three acts passed by the central government which threaten their livelihood”.
The Farmers ‘Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 have been opposed on the grounds that they will make the farmers vulnerable to exploitation by the corporate sector, Tewari said.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) parliamentarians Elamaram Kareem and V Sivadasan also gave adjournment notices under rule 267 for discussing the farmers’ protest in the Rajya Sabha.
The session saw a stormy beginning and Modi’s appeal seemed to have made little impact as the opposition in the Lok Sabha created a ruckus and prevented the prime minister from introducing the newly inducted Union ministers. The disruptions continued despite repeated appeals from Speaker Om Birla and the lower house was adjourned after nearly 40 minutes of the session.
