Price rise unites Oppn, stalls Houses

NEW DELHI: A day after the Presidential address, the Manmohan Singh government came under intense heat over the issue of skyrocketing food prices, with a determined opposition closing ranks to stall proceedings in both Houses of Parliament over its demand for a discussion on the subject under rules that are accompanied by voting.

The entire opposition, in keeping with a pre-determined strategy, raised the issue soon after the proceedings started. In the Lok Sabha, opposition leader Sushma Swaraj, who officially took over the post, articulated the demand for accepting the adjournment motion notices while in the Rajya Sabha her counterpart Arun Jaitley did the bidding.

The opposition is likely to disrupt the question hour in the two Houses again on Wednesday, but will allow railway minister Mamata Banerjee to present the rail budget at noon

“Ever since this government assumed power in May 2004, there have been seven discussions on the issue of price-rise, all under Rule 193, which does not entail voting. In the 15th Lok Sabha, there has already been one discussion on the subject. But they have failed to make an any impact on the trend. Rather than coming down, prices of essential goods have only gone up during the period. People are crying under the impact of the back-breaking prices,’’ Mr Swaraj told the Lok Sabha amid shouts of “shame, shame”. She said that she was speaking on behalf of the entire opposition.

Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, whose party extends outside support to the ruling UPA, described price rise as a serious challenge and contended that a large chunk of the people will not be in a position to celebrate Holi this year because of the steep hike in prices of all essential commodities, particularly food items.

Other Opposition parties, including CPM and its alliance partners, BSP and RJD, backed the BJP demand, seeking the adjournment of all House proceedings to facilitate a discussion on the subject.

Responding on behalf of the government, parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said while the government was ready to discuss any issue on the floor of the House, rules did not permit an adjournment motion. There was an uproar in the Lok Sabha when he imputed that state governments were primarily responsible for implementing laws such as the Essential Commodities Act, strengthening public distribution system and cracking down on hoarding.

Opposition members alleged that the government was running away from confronting the problems of the people by putting the blame for price-rise on states. SP and RJD members trooped into the well of the House, while their Left and BJP colleagues stood up in protest on their seats. The Speaker first adjourned the House till noon, and later for the day.

In the Rajya Sabha, Mr Jaitley said BJP had submitted two notices — one for the suspension of question hour to take up the issue of rise in food prices, and the second for a discussion under Rules 167 and 168, a demand which was rejected by the treasury benches in view of their precarious situation in the House.

CPM member Sitaram Yechury said the opposition was “very, very agitated” on the issue and discussion should be held under a substantial motion, a rule that entails voting.

Chairman Hamid Ansari said there was a consensus on having a discussion on the issue but not on the procedure. A short duration discussion on the issue had been scheduled for the day.But this did not satisfy the opposition members who were on their feet seeking discussion under Rules 167 and 168, which entail voting.