Parliament functioning: BJP hits back at Opposition

The BJP on Sunday hit back at the Opposition for its allegation that the BJP-led government was passing Bills without adequate Parliamentary scrutiny, saying it is "fundamentally wrong on facts" while wondering why they are objecting when Parliament is "performing better than ever".

Countering the Opposition's joint protest letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, BJP General Secretary and senior MP Bhupender Yadav said the UPA government has referred only five Bills in the Rajya Sabha to the Select Committee during 2009-14 while the NDA government in 2014-19 had sent 17 Bills to the Parliamentary panel.

“It is surprising to see that they are objecting to the fact that the Parliament has been utilizing more of its time to bring law and they have problem with the fact that Parliament has enhanced its productive hours and performing better than ever,” he said in a blog 'Rajya Sabha and its Productive Session'.

“It is difficult to understand that why there is the objection if the House has performed better, brought more laws, made more required changes and did the function, which is primarily the function of the House,” Yadav said.

Accusing the Opposition of disrupting Short Duration Discussions and Calling Attention Motions, he said MPs who are talking about Parliament functioning “must collectively introspect” that why Monsoon Session 2015, Budget Session 2018, Winter Session 2018 and Interim Budget Session 2019 were washed out.

Citing the examples of Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, Triple Talaq Bill, National Medical Commission Bill, Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, Code of Wages Bill and Companies Amendment Bill 2019 among others, Yadav said these Bills were cleared by Select Committees or Standing Committees earlier but could not be passed during previous NDA government and now being brought back.

He said the ongoing session has been very effective from the perspective of the enactment of the legislation that its been ever in past Parliamentary sessions.

On Short Duration Discussions, he said while four sessions out of five sessions got washed out, he said the NDA government still managed to conduct 29 such discussions 9 in 2014-19 though four-five sessions were washed out while only 27 were conducted during 2009-14 when UPA was in power.

"The opposition need to understand that while the feedback is necessary, it is equally necessary that there should not be creation of unnecessary obstacle as it will not lead to the healthy democracy. The opposition need to realize importance of its role and act wisely towards strengthening the democracy while acting as a constructive opposition. It is matter of pride that during this session, this task has been getting completed much more than ever it was done by any other governments," he added.