Amit Shah Offers 24-Hour Window For Parliament Debate, Rahul Gandhi Says We Don’t Care
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday gave the Opposition a 24-hour window to discuss issues which have created the current deadlock in the Parliament, explaining that he was ready to stay in the Parliament and answer their questions. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, on the other hand, has refused the offer stating that the Opposition is demanding specific answers on the alleged crackdown on students during the NEET protest.
To end the continued parliament logjam, Amit Shah agreed to engage in the debate from 3 pm on Wednesday to 3 pm on Thursday, and be open to questions put by MPs. He remarked,
“Write a letter and submit it. We will discuss the matter from 3 pm today, and I am ready to discuss it until 3 pm tomorrow,” the Union Minister said. The offer was however declined clearly by Rahul Gandhi and he said, “we don’t care what he has to say.”
It was offered in the wake of a protracted deadlock in the Lok Sabha on the demand of the Opposition leaders for a statement from Shah on the police action in the student protest in Delhi.The offer came on the heels of a long standoff between the government and the Opposition over the demand for a statement by Shah on the police action during the student agitation in the national capital Delhi. The Opposition has also been wanting a discussion regarding alleged irregularities in the donations made to the Ram Temple.
In response to an accusation by the Opposition that he had not been sitting in Parliament, Shah said that he was sitting regularly in the Parliament but that it was being disrupted regularly.
He stated that the Opposition must decide to either give Parliament a chance to operate or keep disrupting it.
The government would also consider all aspects of the student protest issue, Shah added, and restated that there was “nothing to hide”. He will listen to the concerns of the Opposition and address them in the House, he said.
Rahul Gandhi rejected the idea, stating that the Opposition was not looking for an “accountability” but for another statement or “lecture” from the Home Minister.
Gandhi asked who had given his permission for the alleged police violence against the protesting students and called for clarity regarding who gave the police permission to use force.
He said that if the order was handed by Shah, then he should resign from his position. Gandhi also leveled a charge against the Home Minister that he was blocking Parliament on the matter.
The Opposition has continued to seek clarifications on police action, including the use of pellet guns in police firing during the protest during the NEET agitation.
The government, meanwhile, has indicated that it’s prepared for a discussion in Parliament. But the two sides continue playing a game over the nature and extent of the debate, with Congress demanding that the government come out with a specific discussion on accountability for the alleged crackdown.
The conflict has since been a matter of concern and highlighted during the Monsoon Session and the Opposition is also insisting on discussing the alleged donation theft from the Ram Temple as a demand.