JOIN US The Opposition in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday stalled the government’s move to appoint a nominated member on the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the 2G case.
The opposition members expressed “serious doubts” over the government’s intention.
As soon as Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla moved the motion for appointing Ashok Ganguli in place of the DMK’s Trichur Siva and P Bhattacharya for the Congress’ E M S Natchiappan, the BJP and the AIADMK members shouted “no.”
The Opposition demanded withdrawal of the motion or a division of votes through a secret ballot. Deputy Chairman P J Kurien deferred the matter. Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitely said the minister should hold wider consultations on the issue. He pointed out that it will change the composition of the committee.
“Otherwise there has to be a secret ballot,” he said. Kurien said, “We can defer it for wider consultation.”
The appointment was necessitated following Siva’s retirement from the Rajya Sabha and Natchiappan's resignation from the committee after he became a Union minister.
As soon as the motion was moved, AIADMK leader V Maitreyan rose to oppose.
The BJP members said when the committee was set up, members were elected on the basis of a party’s representation in the Upper House. Now, the government was trying to change the composition of the committee in the name of giving representation to nominated members, they said.
BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad demanded that the proposal should be withdrawn. “We have serious doubts over the government’s intention,” he said. Shukla said the government was ready to accept the decision of the House. “Whatever is decided will be decided by the House,” he said.