Shashi Tharoor said the tradition of parliamentary disruptions established over the last several decades.
Congress's Shashi Tharoor today accused the government of suppressing opposition voices, "arrogant about its brute majority" after four of his party colleagues got suspended by Speaker Om Birla. Manickam Tagore, Jothimani, Ramya Haridas and TN Prathapan.were holding placards in parliament even after being warned against such acts at the all-party meeting, Mr Birla had said. All four have been suspended for the rest of the Monsoon Session, which continues till August 12.
Pointing out that every major democracy has a day a week when the Opposition sets the agenda, Mr Tharoor, in an exclusive interview to NDTV, said in the Indian system, it depends on the "government's good grace and willingness to take it on the chin".
But in this case, the "government is genuinely arrogant about its brute majority and seems contemptuous about the need to accommodate opposition voices," he said. "The suspension of MPs is disgraceful and marks a catastrophic breakdown of relations between the government and the opposition," he added.
In this context, Mr Tharoor said the tradition of parliamentary disruptions has been established over the last three or four decades when the BJP was in the opposition. Former Speakers Somnath Chatterjee and Meira Kumar had struggled to find a way around this, he said.
Somnath Chatterjee, Mr Tharoor recalled, had even convened a meeting of eminent citizens to advise him on negotiating a path through this. He also recounted a conversation with Meira Kumar, who, when asked about why she does not suspend the BJP MPs, said it would be "undemocratic".
"After all, people come here to represent their constituencies and if we suspend them, we are denying the people their representatives' voice," he quoted her as saying.
The MPs suspended today were trying to raise the issue of price rise in parliament. The government has been postponing discussions on the issue, citing the unavailability of finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who has tested positive for Covid.
Mr Tharoor, however, pointed out that in such situations, another MP can be briefed and deputed to speak on her behalf. "In my view, the government is deeply embarrassed" over its failure to contain the inflation and the current situation," he added.
Asked if the discussion on inflation could not have waited, Mr Tharoor said it s not his call. But it was possible that the leaders who took the call thought inflation was a burning issue at the moment, compared to the relatively minor issues and bills, like the Antarctic bill. that the government has on agenda, he added.
The opposition, he pointed out, had presented the government with a list of issues it wanted discussion on even before the session started.