Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Dec 14: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that the opposition is deliberately avoiding a Parliament debate on “remonetisation”.
Speaking to media persons soon after the adjournment of both the Houses of Parliament due to continuous disruption, Dr Jitendra Singh lashed out at the opposition’s allegation that the Government is running away from debate, and said, the truth is just the contrary. He said, as a matter of fact, it suits the Government to have a detailed elaborate discussion on remonetisation, because that would offer us an opportunity to explain to the people of this country the enormous benefits accruing from the historic decision of remonetisation taken by the Prime Minister.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the opposition has been constantly looking for one or the other excuse not to allow a discussion on remonetization, because that will enable the common people of India to become more aware of the merits of the decision and the opposition does not want the Government or the Prime Minister to get the credit for this decision.
Without naming Rahul Gandhi, Dr Jitendra Singh refuted the allegation made by the Congress Vice President that he was not being allowed to speak and asked what prevented him or his colleagues from speaking during the last three weeks when each day, they would come to the Parliament prepared with one or the other illogical excuse or condition to ensure that the House does not run. For example, he said, for some time, they insisted that the Prime Minister should be present in the House and when the Prime Minister came, they insisted that he should sit all along through the debate even though this has never been a tradition or practice in the entire history of Indian Parliament and this was also not the norm followed during the times when Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister whom the present generation of Congressmen claim to follow and emulate.
On the other hand, when a debate tends to run for a couple of days at a stretch, he said, even the concerned Minister may not be present throughout and may assign his junior Minister to take the notes and then himself become available to tender the reply.
By changing goal-posts and laying down new conditions every day, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the opposition, particularly the Congress Party, have exposed their malafide intention not to allow the Parliament to run and it seems that now they have made up their mind to ensure that for the remaining two days also, there should be no business conducted. But, he said, the people of India who elected us to this “temple of democracy” are keenly watching and do not expect us to conduct in this manner. We have been elected to the Parliament, he said, to discuss, debate and also dissent but never to create mayhem and those of us who do so, would not be forgiven by the electorate of India.
Meanwhile, Amar Singh, veteran politician and Samajwadi Party, Member of Parliament, called on Dr Jitendra Singh and discussed a host of issues, including remonetisation. He also provided his personal inputs and observations regarding some of the ongoing projects in the North Eastern States.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
