Thaindian News

New Delhi, March 17 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday said it was opposed to marshals being brought into the two houses of parliament and blamed the government for bad floor management in the first half of the budget session during which key bills, including a legislation on women’s reservation, were tabled amid disruptions.
The leaders of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, criticised the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for allegedly trying to pass without a discussion in the upper house the landmark bill that seeks to reserve 33 percent of all legislative seats in India.

“The complete absence of the floor management was the characteristic of the UPA during the first half of the budget session,” Jaitley told reporters at a joint news conference.

The nuclear liability bill that was taken off from the Lok Sabha business list at the last minute Monday was another example of bad floor management, he said.

Apprehending opposition from the BJP and Left parties, the government beat a hasty retreat in the Lok Sabha on the legislation that seeks to set up a legal mechanism to ensure that victims of a nuclear accident are able to claim financial compensation from the operator. The bill is key on making the India-US nuclear deal operational. But is yet to be introduced in parliament.

The first half of the budget session ended Tuesday and parliament will resume April 12 after a three-week long recess.

Jaitley said the BJP was “satisfied of having discharged its responsibility as India’s principle opposition party”.

The leaders said the government had no answers on the issue of price rise when it was confronted with uncomfortable questions during discussions on the railway and general budget.

Jaitley said his party was opposed to the use of marshals in the Rajya Sabha when the women’s reservation bill was being taken up.

He said he had spoken to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari to express the BJP’s opposition of bringing marshals into the house to evict MPs who were creating ruckus over the bill.

The BJP leader said the members who were suspended from the Rajya Sabha for their unruly behaviour should have been called back before the voting on the women’s reservation bill, which was cleared by the house and is now awaiting clearance from the Lok Sabha.