Note ban debate stalled again as PM leaves House after lunch

Rajya Sabha

After five days of confrontation, Rajya Sabha on Thursday saw resumption of debate on demonetization briefly during which former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led the opposition attack, saying the step was a ‘monumental management failure’ which would lead to dip in gross domestic product growth by at least 2 per cent.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the House, the Opposition and the ruling side came to an agreement to do away with the Question Hour and resume the debate, which had been left incomplete on November 16.

Leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the prime minister will also participate in the debate.

The Opposition had been demanding presence of the prime minister for resumption of the debate for the last five days.

Modi attended the House during Question Hour as Thursday is the day of questions listed against the PM’s name.

Debate was resumed during the Question Hour, from 12 pm to 1 pm, after which the House went into lunch break. When it met again at 2 pm, the prime minister was not there, prompting the opposition parties to demand his presence again as they wanted him to listen to all the speakers.

Deputy Chairman P J Kurien said the discussion should be carried forward as the Leader of the House has said that prime minister will come.

Opposition members then trooped into the Well of the House shouting slogans like ‘bring back black money, stop making false promises’.

Jaitley said his ‘apprehensions’ that the Opposition did not want the debate had come true as they were looking for ‘excuses’ to run away from the discussion.

As pandemonium prevailed, the House was adjourned till 3 pm and then for the day as the same situation existed.

Participating in the debate, Naresh Agrawal (Samajwadi Party) said his party was against demonetisation and dubbed it as a ‘second emergency’ that has brought about financial emergency in the country.

Such decisions have been taken ‘only by dictators’ and not by elected governments anywhere in the world.

Agrawal said no one has the power to implement such a decision without the consent and approval of both Houses of Parliament, as the Parliamentarians are the true public representatives of people of the country.

He questioned as to how this decision was taken without any discussion in Parliament.

He said it is a very dangerous decision for the country and not in national interest.

The decision was taken only keeping in view the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, the Samajwadi Party leader said.

He also lamented that the decisions announced by the government have not been notified by the Reserve Bank of India which is yet to issue instructions to banks.

Welcoming Modi’s presence in the House, the SP leader said it is good that government has shed its rigidity.

He said the prime minister was not aware of the ground realities where people were suffering largely on account of the scrapping of high value currency notes.

Agrawal recalled how even former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who enforced Emergency in the country, was informed at the time that the move has gone well with the public who support it.

But what happened in elections later was seen by all, the SP leader said, adding the demonetisation step will bring the same fate to this government if elections are held now.

Taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party over its promise of bringing back black money stashed abroad, he asked it to declare when it would do so.

Agrawal also asked the government to declare how much is the NPAs of banks in India in comparison to foreign banks.

Agarwal also took a dig at the Prime Minister for making an emotive speech in Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh that he may be killed for his bold decisions.

He said Modi was free to roam around in Uttar Pradesh, which is ruled by his party SP, without fear as law and order situation was good in the state. This evoked laughter, with the prime minister too having a hearty laugh.

Agrawal also claimed that the demonetisation move was announced by Modi without taking Jaitley into confidence.

He said if the finance minister had known about it, he would have informed Samajwadi Party leaders, evoking another round of laughter.

In a retort, Jaitley said the real problem has come to light now.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said the decision to scrap high value notes was taken ‘without adequate preparation’ because of which 95 per cent people were facing problems.

Referring to the government’s survey to gauge people’s views on demonetisation in which 90 per cent out of initial responses had supported the decision, she said that in fact 90 per cent people were facing immense problems.

She dared the government to dissolve the Lok Sabha and go to elections and see the result right now.

Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien said the government was trying to build a narrative that anyone opposing demonetisation is supporting the corrupt.

He questioned the government as to why it is giving lectures on corruption and black money.

He said his party was opposing because it thinks the people are suffering and economy will be killed.

The Trinamool leader asked the government why it was creating this impression that it is some messiah and all in the opposition are devils.

O’Brien said if the government wanted to hold an inquiry, it should do it. He said if the government wanted to send his party leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to jail, it should try it.

He also took a swipe at the survey on Narendra Modi app and asked who were the 92 per cent people who were making the government happy.

He suggested that old Rs 500 notes should be allowed to function parallel with the new notes for a longer time as well as printing of more smaller denomination notes.

Secrecy cannot be an excuse for putting people to pain, he said, adding that 4 out of 5 villages did not have banks.

Peace and normalcy in the Rajya Sabha, during which debate was witnessed from 12 pm to 1 pm, evaporated after it met again at 2 pm after lunch recess.

The prime minister, who was present in the House from 12 pm to 1 pm, was not in the House.

Mayawati raised the issue of his absence, saying it was a matter of regret that the prime minister had not arrived for the demonetisation debate.

She said that until and unless the PM is present, discussion will not move on and the House will not run.

She was joined by Sitaram Yechury (Communist Party of India-Marxist) and Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, who argued that if the prime minister listens to leaders, then the House will run smoothly.

Yechury said the government had given an assurance that the prime minister will be in the House all day.

Launching a counter offensive, Jaitley said the Opposition was inventing reasons for running away from the debate.

The finance minister refused to accept the condition that the prime minister should sit in the House throughout the debate, saying it was not in the Rule book.

Azad countered Jaitley’s assertion reminding that during debate on 2G spectrum scam few years ago, the Bharatiya Janata Party, then in opposition, had said that the House will not run until the then prime minister was present throughout the discussion.

Amid demands that Modi be present in the House during the course of the demonetisation debate, the Rajya Sabha witnessed uproar with leaders marching towards the well of the House, alleging that the prime minister had run away from the debate.

Due to the uproar, the House was adjourned till 3 pm and then for the day.

Earlier, when the lunch break was announced, the prime minister reached out to the opposition parties as he walked across in the House and exchanged pleasantries with his predecessor Manmohan Singh and other leaders of Congress as well as the Janata Dal-United, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

Modi, with Jaitley and Minister of State of Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in tow, shook hands and was seen chatting with Singh, as also Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma.

Modi also chatted with JD-U leader Sharad Yadav, Praful Patel of NCP and DMK’s Kanimozhi and some other leaders.

Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha could not transact any business as the Opposition continued its protest demanding discussion on demonetization issue under Adjournment Motion and a rule which entails voting.