Parliamentary obstruction not undemocratic: Kharge

LoP in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge speaks in the House during a special session of Parliament. Pic/PTI

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar on Monday asked the Opposition how long it would keep justifying disruptions of proceedings going by the past precedents, saying when there was time to put forth its views the Congress was absent from house.

Participating in a discussion on Parliamentary Journey of 75 Years, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge said with disruptions, his party was only following the example of the late BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj when they were in Opposition.

Mumbai weather update: Moderate rainfall expected in city and suburbs today

Quoting a remark from Jaitley from an Upper House proceeding on January 30, 2011, Kharge said, "The job of Parliament is to discuss. Whenever issues are ignored, creating obstacles is in the interest of the public system. Therefore, parliamentary obstruction cannot be called undemocratic." "Swaraj too had said in the Lok Sabha, ‘Not allowing Parliament to function is also a form of democracy in other words.' "When we are doing the same, we are attacked," Kharge said.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever