Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday accused the Opposition of avoiding an “organised discussion” following their decision to boycott Rajya Sabha as their “voices were being muzzled”.
Speaking to the media, Jaitley said that there was a huge opportunity for discussing all political and economic issues in Parliament.
“Instead rules are being violated… An effort is being made to get the house adjourned everyday, it is obvious that they don’t want an organised discussion,” Jaitley said.
“What Opposition parties have done in Rajya Sabha today is absolutely unprecedented. Congress and some other parties have tried to manufacture an issue when none existed,” he added.
The Opposition on the other hand accused Rajya Sabha chairman, M Venkaiah Naidu of being biased as they boycotted the upper house proceedings for the day.
Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad said: “We are not allowed to speak… The moment a member gets up to speak the house is adjourned by the chair. It seems that our voice is being muzzled.”
Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Naresh Agrawal too said that the opposition was not being heard in the upper house.
“We don’t want to say anything about the chair but our voices should not be muzzled… Chairman should not work in such a manner,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Opposition parties also sent a letter to Naidu stating that the government was “murdering democracy” in the Upper House by not letting them speak.
The letter was sent following a meeting of opposition parties to discuss strategy for parliament. The meeting took place after they joined hands in boycotting the Upper House for the first time in this budget session.