Rajya Sabha doing better business by passing key bills and sitting beyond scheduled time

NEW DELHI: The Congress-led UPA has been unable to solve the impasse in Lok Sabha and push key legislations, including Food Security and Land Acquisition Bills.

While proceedings in Lok Sabha remained paralysed for the seventh consecutive sitting on Wednesday, Rajya Sabha has been functioning smoothly this week passing key bills and sitting beyond the scheduled time of 6 pm to discuss issues like state of economy. In what is being seen as a failure of its floor managers, Congress was unable to push through the Food Security Bill in the Lok Sabha as a handful of TDP MPs continued to protest in the well of the House against the formation of Telangana state.

In sharp contrast, the Upper House passed the National Waterway (Lakhipur-Bhanga Stretch of the Barak River) Bill, 2013. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2013, was also introduced in Rajya Sabha. A discussion on the economic condition of the country predominated the rest of the day and Finance Minister P Chidambaram gave a detailed statement.

According to sources, Congress had contemplated speaking to TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu to persuade TDP MPs to allow the House to function but no attempt was made. There was speculation that TDP MPs could be marshalled out so that the key bill could be discussed and passed on Wednesday. However, after the Rajya Sabha protests — where the Opposition accused the government of bias in naming only BJP and TDP MPs for protests — the floor managers did not think this wise.