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The Lok Sabha speaker and the secretariat found themselves embroiled in an angry dispute on Tuesday as members of the Trinamool Congress party and Telugu Desam Party clashed over the contentious Room no 5 on the first floor of Parliament House.
While this is not the first time that there has been a disagreement over the occupancy and possession of a room, many question why the Lok Sabha secretariat is working at cross-purposes in allotting rooms.
The Speaker’s office has also been slow in allotting division numbers to members due to which they need to vote by slip in the house -- a long and lengthy procedure. It was only recently that members were allotted their seat number. The Standing Committees, their chairpersons and members are also not in order.
The Speaker’s office is yet to officially inform the Congress party if they will get the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. However, the issue of deputy speaker in the Lok Sabha has been resolved. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader M Thambidurai is set to be elected unopposed as deputy speaker of Lok Sabha after Congress supported his candidature.
There is speculation that the government may extend the Budget session of Parliament, as it is yet to pass some crucial bills. But it appears that this is being done to pressurise the opposition to cooperate. If the session is extended Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be able to make policy pronouncements from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15 as policy matters cannot be pronounced outside the Parliament if it is in session.
Senior BJP leaders were taken by surprise when this was pointed out to them in a meeting, since there was a serious move to extend the Parliament session. The Lok Sabha is likely to pass the Judicial Appointments Bill, but the lack of time may hold the Rajya Sabha from passing it. The bill needs to go the President after it is passed in the Lok Sabha.
The Congress has decided to support the bill but the actual process may take long as 15 states need to ratify the bill before it becomes a law. Also, the chief justice and other senior judges are angry and upset with the collegiate system being disbanded and the power of the judiciary being diluted in the appointment of judges.