As the Opposition closed its ranks on Monday to corner the government on Tuesday by seeking the admission of an Adjournment Motion on price rise, a resolute UPA regime ruled out a debate in the suggested format.
The government dug in its heels for it had no inclination to accept a motion, which clearly involved voting and a censure of its working. ?We will not accept an adjournment motion,? minister of state for parliamentary affairs Prithviraj Chavan declared. ?We are ready for a short-duration discussion on price rise,? he added. Going a step further, Chavan said the government was ready to discuss any issue raised by the Opposition or a UPA partner.
Demonstrating a sense of common purpose, leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj, Janata Dal(U) president Sharad Yadav, CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharia and CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta, besides some others, gave separate notices for moving adjournment motions. Sources disclosed the notices cited the government failure to control prices and rise in the prices of petroleum products for moving adjournment motions.
While a disruption of proceedings by the Opposition on Tuesday to press for the admission of its notices was a foregone conclusion, there was no element of suspense regarding the response of Speaker Meira Kumar. The reason being, she had rejected similar notices on February 24 and allowed a short-duration discussion under Rule 193, implying a debate without voting. While rejecting the notices, the Speaker had cited Rules 56 and 58?regarding the adjournment motion? which said the matter must be of ?urgent? public importance and of ?recent occurrence.? Price-rise, she pointed out, ?has not arisen suddenly in the manner of an emergency.? She said the issue had been discussed the same matter during the previous session too. Anticipating the same response from the Centre and the Speaker, the Opposition changed its strategy. ?We will give a notice on the rise in prices of kerosene and LPG,? Swaraj said before submitting the notice, the formulation of the document indicating the intent.