HT interview: Congress not coming forward to talk on delimitation, says Kiren Rijiju
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju blamed the Congress Party and the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for creating impediments in the passage of the 33% women’s reservation bill. He said the principal opposition party refuses to engage with the government on the issue.
In an interview to HT, Rijiju said, while all other opposition parties have had discussions with the government and put forth their concerns, the Congress has repeatedly turned down the invite to talk.
Edited excerpts
Q In your letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge you said there is no constitutional binding on when Parliament should be prorogued after being adjourned sine die. But is that sufficient explanation for why the monsoon session has not yet been prorogued?
A The Constitution has not prescribed the provisions to prorogue Parliament sessions. It has been a convention that after the House is adjourned, then normally you prorogue the House. But if the government feels the House may be required to convene again…you just keep it open.
It has happened in the past, I have mentioned in the letter (to Kharge). There have been instances where from one session to next, the House has not been prorogued and the next date of Parliament session has been told (announced). This is not a big issue as such. And this is not an issue that the Congress Party President has to write a letter to the Prime Minister about.
Also read: No irregularity in Parliament not being prorogued: Kiren Rijiju
Q Opposition leaders largely feel that not proroguing the house is an indication of an extended session or a special session to table the Constitutional Amendment Bill and the delimitation Bill, but it is being done without proper consultation, and the government has not revealed its cards.
A It is not indicative of anything. I’m reiterating, this is not a violation of any Parliamentary norms.
Q The Congress in its response to your letter has asked if the government has a specific plan and proposal for delimitation?
A The only thing is that the Congress Party is fooling themselves. They are not coming forward to talk to the government. Other parties have done so, why can’t the Congress. The government has invited them repeatedly. more than 10 times.
Q Are you saying that they have turned down meeting the government?
A I had written three letters to Kharge ji. I had talked to him multiple times. I went and talked to Rahul Gandhi personally and invited him. They don’t come forward…This is the first time I have seen such a response in my parliamentary life that the government invites the principal opposition party for talks, and they don’t come.
Q But they alleged the government seems adamant on not calling an all party meeting.
A That is a different issue. If other parties, such as the Samajwadi Party, DMK, YSRCP, the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar), can come for talks, why can’t the Congress ? Are they above all others? Calling an all-party is a decision that rests with the government. We are here to engage with each party separately.
Parliament is for everybody. They (Congress) want to run the House according to their own desire and plan.
Q What has been the takeaway from your meetings with the other parties including the BJD, the DMK and the Samajwadi party?
A They all want some kind of a guarantee to ensure that all the states stand to gain equally and no state should lose their proportionate number in the Lok Sabha. That is the only concern of every party.
Also read: Where key opposition parties stand on proposals to raise Lok Sabha strength, redraw seats
Q And this is exactly what they said the last time as well, that this guarantee should be included in the bill. Will the government agree to this demand?
A That is a different issue. I would not speak about that. I’m talking about the procedure, and all these parties who have talked to the government, they’re all happy. They are happy with the discussions and the way we have committed… that no state will lose any seat. The government has said every state will gain seats proportionately.
Q Opposition leaders have suggested delinking the roll out of reservation from the delimitation. And to give quotas on the basis of the current numbers. Will the government consider that demand?
A I will not go into the details of what these parties say. I’m saying that no state will lose, that is the commitment of the government, and my bigger point is while other parties are eager, ready to talk to the government, why is the Congress running away from a dialogue with the government?
Also read: Keeping up with UP: Can Rahul Gandhi’s street activism revive the Congress in UP?
Q Have you had fresh discussions with the DMK and the SP, given their numerical strength?
A As Parliamentary Affairs minister I am always in touch with all my colleagues. And that is my duty.
Q Parties such as the YSRCP and the BJD too seem to be shifting their stance. YSRCP’s Jagan Reddy has said that he regrets supporting the bill for the appointment of the CECs. What do you make of his statement? Do you think he will not be on board?
A I am not privy to what he said and therefore, will not comment on that.
Q If you were to make a fresh pitch to the opposition parties to support the bills, what would be your message to them today?
A During the debate in the last session, it was already explained that the time has come to pass this bill and implement women’s reservation. India needs to have larger numbers of seats, because the population has grown manifold from the last delimitation in 1971. The requirements and the justification are all there. But the Congress Party is hell bent on destroying this bill, which is basically, the need of the hour.
Q Are you saying that the other parties are following the Congress?
A Only a few, such as the Aam Aadmi Party, the TMC and the Communists.
Q You said recently Kharge in private told you that Rahul Gandhi seems to be driving an uncompromising stance of the Congress party. Can you elaborate?
A I have spoken to all the leaders… Kharge Ji doesn’t openly say it, but he will be more amenable if he comes out of the grip of Rahul Gandhi. What should I say…he is callous in his approach, and not a serious person. If he understands this issue seriously, he would never oppose it.
Q What does the government make of the ongoing protests and allegations of vote chori?
A People know it is a bogus issue being raised by the Congress as an excuse to deflect from its repeated defeat. It is a sign of desperation, resulting from repeated defeats in the elections.
Q What about the younger people who are protesting, they took to the streets during the protests over paper leaks and are now demanding transparency in electoral issues.
A These are not representatives of the Indian youth, but karyakartas of the NSUI, the AAP (workers)…and the extreme left. They are getting hammered in every university election now.
Q Then what explains the government and the party’s decision to engage with a younger demographic? You have a series of programmes lined up.
A That is to make people understand that Indian democracy is run by ballots and not by bullets as understood by the Leftists. Because they (Left) believe that power flows from the barrel of a gun… we believe it flows from the electronic voting machines through people’s votes.
Q RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has said a storm has blown from the west, about the protests. Would you agree?
A Strong nations that are rooted in civilisation, culture and traditions are not influenced and swept away by such shallow extreme leftist views. We believe in the rule of law.
Q What is being done to restore peace in Manipur, which goes to the polls next year ?
A It is unfortunate what is happening. We are making all efforts to ensure peace returns. It is a conflict between communities that has happened in the past as well. We are hopeful that things should come back to normalcy soon.
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