Opposition boycotts Rajya Sabha after adjournment

On Tuesday, the Rajya Sabha session was brought to a standstill. This was the second time the parliament was adjourned. The opposition accused the chairman Venkaiah Naidu of ‘muzzling’ their voices. The Rajya Sabha in session was adjourned till 2 p.m.

The opposition parties included Congress, the Left, the Trinamool Congress, DMK, AAP and the Samajwadi Party. The parties went into a huddle as to what their strategy would be. Apparently the chairman wasn’t allowing them to speak and wouldn’t hear their cases. The house resumed discussions after 3 p.m.

The opposition argued that there were many issues to be raised, but every time issues were raised, the house was adjourned. The house was adjourned till 2 p.m. when TMC wanted to raise issues concerning the state. The opposition wrote to the chairman protesting the muting of states’ voices. Since they weren’t being given a fair chance to raise issues of concern, the opposition decided to boycott the session for the rest of the day on Tuesday.

The opposition was led by Ghulam Nabi Azad. When he spoke to reporters he said that what they were asking for wasn’t beyond the scope of the rules set. He argued that the opposition’s voice was being muzzled outside but it shouldn’t happen within the House. Derek O’Brien emphasised that democracy was being murdered in the process. They argued that the issues concerning the common man were not being raised and that opposition wasn’t only in place to pass bills.

Those seated in the house including Arun Jaitley, believe that the opposition is creating a problem where there exists none. This is either a case of gross exaggeration, or there is a genuine issue at hand. The proceedings in the Rajya Sabha one expects to be fair and nondiscriminatory cannot continue like this. But politics in India doesn’t give much space to the common man or woman’s voices, this is neither new or going to change in the near future.