Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju blamed the Congress Party and the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for creating impediments in the passage of the 33% women’s reservation bill .
He said the principal opposition party refuses to engage with the government on the issue.
Q RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has said a storm has blown from the west, about the protests. Would you agree?
There have been instances where from one session to next, the House has not been prorogued and the next date of Parliament session has been told (announced). Edited excerpts A The Constitution has not prescribed the provisions to prorogue Parliament sessions. It has been a convention that after the House is adjourned, then normally you prorogue the House. But if the government feels the House may be required to convene again…you just keep it open. It has happened in the past, I have mentioned in the letter (to Kharge ). This is not a big issue as such. And this is not an issue that the Congress Party President has to write a letter to the Prime Minister about. A It is not indicative of anything. I’m reiterating, this is not a violation of any Parliamentary norms. A The only thing is that the Congress Party is fooling themselves. They are not coming forward to talk to the government. Other parties have done so, why can’t the Congress. A I had written three letters to Kharge ji. I had talked to him multiple times. I went and talked to Rahul Gandhi personally and invited him. They don’t come forward…This is the first time I have seen such a response in my parliamentary life that the government invites the principal opposition party for talks, and they don’t come. A That is a different issue. If other parties, such as the Samajwadi Party, DMK, YSRCP, the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar), can come for talks, why can’t the Congress ? Are they above all others? Calling an all-party is a decision that rests with the government. We are here to engage with each party separately. Parliament is for everybody. A They all want some kind of a guarantee to ensure that all the states stand to gain equally and no state should lose their proportionate number in the Lok Sabha. That is the only concern of every party. I would not speak about that. I’m talking about the procedure, and all these parties who have talked to the government, they’re all happy. They are happy with the discussions and the way we have committed… that no state will lose any seat. A I will not go into the details of what these parties say. I’m saying that no state will lose, that is the commitment of the government, and my bigger point is while other parties are eager, ready to talk to the government, why is the Congress running away from a dialogue with the government? A As Parliamentary Affairs minister I am always in touch with all my colleagues. And that is my duty. A During the debate in the last session, it was already explained that the time has come to pass this bill and implement women’s reservation. The requirements and the justification are all there. But the Congress Party is hell bent on destroying this bill, which is basically, the need of the hour. A Only a few, such as the Aam Aadmi Party, the TMC and the Communists . A I have spoken to all the leaders… Kharge Ji doesn’t openly say it, but he will be more amenable if he comes out of the grip of Rahul Gandhi. What should I say…he is callous in his approach, and not a serious person. If he understands this issue seriously, he would never oppose it. A People know it is a bogus issue being raised by the Congress as an excuse to deflect from its repeated defeat. It is a sign of desperation, resulting from repeated defeats in the elections. A These are not representatives of the Indian youth, but karyakartas of the NSUI, the AAP (workers)…and the extreme left. They are getting hammered in every university election now. A That is to make people understand that Indian democracy is run by ballots and not by bullets as understood by the Leftists. A Strong nations that are rooted in civilisation, culture and traditions are not influenced and swept away by such shallow extreme leftist views. We believe in the rule of law. A It is unfortunate what is happening. We are making all efforts to ensure peace returns. It is a conflict between communities that has happened in the past as well. We are hopeful that things should come back to normalcy soon.
The government has invited them repeatedly. more than 10 times. A I am not privy to what he said and therefore, will not comment on that. Because the population has grown manifold from the last delimitation in 1971, india needs to have larger numbers of seats,. Because they (Left) believe that power flows from the barrel of a gun… we believe it flows from the electronic voting machines through people’s votes.
In an interview to HT, Rijiju said, while all other opposition parties have had discussions with the government and put forth their concerns, the Congress has repeatedly turned down the invite to talk. They (Congress) want to run the House according to their own desire and plan. The government has said every state will gain seats proportionately.
