“We did not bend and they did not suspend,” Derek O’Brien tells The Statesman, dispelling speculation whether or not one of Trinamool’s most vociferous speakers in the Upper House of Parliament would indeed be suspended from the rest of the Monsoon Session as had initially been declared by the Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar earlier this week.
Dhankar’s order, which was pronounced while O’Brien had been demanding a discussion on Manipur on the alleged grounds of “disobeying” the Chairman, was however not implemented and O’Brien was allowed to go on. But not before the Leader of the House Piyush Goyal moved a suspension motion. Though Dhankar expressed his disapproval of the “disobedience” he later desisted from carrying out a debate on the motion of suspension.
For Trinamool, one of the most prominent partners in the I.N.D.I.A alliance which was formed during the second meeting of Opposition Unity leaders in Bengaluru on July 18, it was of course a victory.
According to sources in the Trinamool the party’s Rajya Sabha members’ persistent demand to discuss and address the Manipur issue in Parliament has been an integral part of the call for a “no confidence motion”.
“The Opposition’s role of putting the pressure on the government to discuss burning issues is being successfully carried out by the Trinamool in Rajya Sabha and it (the debate) that is taking place currently is an indicator,” observes the source in Trinamool.
“The Central government is duty bound to address the issue of Manipur,” Trinamool Rajya Sabha member Dola Sen told The Statesman. “We have persistently put pressure on the Prime Minister to address the issue during the Monsoon Session”.
In the heated debates that have been going on for the past two days in Parliament, during which ruling BJP leaders (including home minister Amit Shah) and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of the Opposition I.N.D.I.A alliance spoke among others, the issue of Manipur was the most pressing. For Trinamool, which is preparing for the general elections to be held next year, this is an issue that they will not allow to die down in a hurry. Not until a solution is arrived at.