New Delhi: Stung by the charge of poor floor
management, Government today hit back at the BJP for the
problems faced by three key bills in Parliament, accusing the
main opposition of speaking in one voice outside Parliament
and another inside it.
"The main Opposition took a U-turn on several issues.
They said something else outside and something else in the
House (when some bills were taken up). I leave the definition
of floor management to them," Parliamentary Affairs Minister
Pawan Kumar Bansal told reporters here.
Dismissing the charge that it was not good at floor
management, Bansal said that 20 bills were passed in the Lok
Sabha and another 26 in the Rajya Sabha during the session
despite loss of 45 hours in the Lok Sabha and 35 hours in the
Rajya Sabha.
Earlier, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun
Jaitley, said, "The government appears to be losing
direction...there is no collective governance. There is a gap
between ministers and ruling party MPs."
Bansal also sought to defend Rajya Sabha MP K Keshav Rao
for speaking against the Education Tribunal Bill, saying the
essence of democracy is that the MPs can express their views.
"The essence of democracy is that MPs express their
views...The same member (Keshav Rao) said that he was not
opposing the bill," the minister said, dismissing a question
whether it was embarrassing for the party and the government
as the bill had to be deferred after Rao set the tone against
the proposed legislation.
Bansal said that when he was an MP, he spoke on the
issues freely but when it came to voting, he used to follow
the party directive.
"We have a bicameral Parliament. If one bill is passed
by the Lok Sabha, members could have a different view in the
Rajya Sabha," he said, when asked whether it was a setback as
the Education Tribunal Bill has to be deferred.
The Minister also dismissed charges that the Congress was
a divided House as members spoke in different voices on issues
like the Education Tribunal Bill and the alleged misuse of
SC/ST funds by the Delhi government.
"Congress is not a divided House," he said.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, September 01, 2010, 18:45