"Terrible Situation": Shashi Tharoor on Parliament Logjam

New Delhi: Following constant adjournments of both houses of Parliament in the first week, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday said that it was a terrible situation which was bad for the country. He said that the government must make an effort and cooperate with the opposition to let the Parliament function.
The onus was on the government to make Parliament function, Tharoor said, adding that they should cooperate with the opposition and find common ground.
"Terrible situation. The government must make an effort...We have always had this approach that the onus is on the government to make the Parliament function. They should cooperate with the opposition and find common ground. The opposition has proposed a solution, which is to have a debate on the Constitution. If the government concedes, I am sure the Parliament would function. It is bad for the country, bad for the voters and bad for us. But the government must make some effort instead of putting all the onus on the opposition. In every democracy, there is an agreement on what issues should be discussed. Where is the agreement here?"
His reaction comes after another day of the winter session of the Parliament was washed out amid constant adjournments last week.
Congress MP Tharoor further said there were issues that all the opposition parties wanted to discuss.
"There are issues which all the Opposition parties want to discuss. One of the pending issues is a request for a debate on the 75th year of the Constitution. If the government runs that then Parliament will function. The 75th anniversary is something that interests everybody. We have had debates and lengthy discussions in the past on so many anniversaries - the 60th anniversary of Parliament, the 70th anniversary of Quit India...Why not on this also?" Tharoor remarked.
Meanwhile, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned on Monday, the fifth working day of the Parliament Winter Session 2024, amid protests and slogans in both houses by opposition parties seeking discussion over the Adani issue, violence in Manipur and Sambhal.
Both Houses were adjourned for the day after they reconvened at noon following adjournments since the sessions began at 11 am.
Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected 20 notices received under Rule 267. The Chairman referred to Murphy's Law, which states that "anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
He said, "It appears that there exists a deliberate effort to actualize Murphy's Law to impede this House's proper functioning."
Opposition members have been continuously pushing to have a discussion on the floor on the Adani issue, Sambhal violence and the Manipur situation, raising slogans in the Parliament.
The first session of the Winter Parliament commenced on November 25, with both Houses getting adjourned fairly early due to disruptions. The winter session will go on till December 20.