This Article is From Aug 10, 2015

Can't Have a House Where Government Not Allowed to Speak: Arun Jaitley on Opposition Protests in Parliament

Finance Minister Arun jaitley speaks in the Rajya Sabha on Monday

New Delhi: As repeated disruptions opened the last week of Parliament's Monsoon Session, Union Minister Arun Jaitley today said: "We can't have the House to be conducted in a manner that the government is not allowed to speak."

There are four days left in the session and key legislation has been stalled by protests over the Lalit Modi and Vyapam controversies.

The Rajya Sabha adjourned within minutes this morning and the Lok Sabha followed shortly.

In the Rajya Sabha, as Opposition members crowded around the chair and shouted slogans, Arun Jaitley angrily said the government must be given a fair chance to speak in the House.

Mr Jaitley addressed Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien and said: "You can't have the House conducted in a manner in which the government is not allowed to speak. It is unfortunate in the way House is being conducted. It's your responsibility."

In the Lok Sabha, opposition leader Malikarjun Kharge demanded a discussion on Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj's statement on her role in helping disgraced cricket tycoon Lalit Modi with travel papers in Britain last year.

"What Sushmaji did was not in the interest of the country. She did not act on humanitarian grounds," Mr Kharge said.

Opposition leaders met with Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to discuss the deadlock.
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