Stalemate persists in Rajya Sabha; government insists on suspended members expressing remorse, opposition says no

Even as the government and the opposition parties continue to reaffirm their positions on the deadlock in Rajya Sabha following the suspension of 12 opposition MPs, backchannel talks are being held to resolve the impasse, sources said.

They said a senior Congress leader met Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, who is Leader of House in Rajya Sabha, as part of efforts to find a solution to the ongoing logjam.

While the government insists that the concerned opposition members should apologise, or at least express remorse for their actions on the last day of the monsoon session, the opposition members have said that they will not do so.

Leader of Opposition in the House Mallikarjun Kharge, in his letter to Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday, said the suspension of 12 members was "unprecedented excessive action for the unfortunate incidents in the last days of monsoon session".

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday that if the suspended members want to return to the House, they should express remorse.

Sources said a solution of stalemate is likely in Rajya Sabha as the Lok Sabha has also resumed its normal functioning on Wednesday and passed a bill with the participation of opposition members in the debate.

Congress is apparently keen to participate in the discussions as it feels that not doing so will allow the government to have a free run. However, the party will calibrate its moves keeping in mind larger Opposition unity against the government and the views of its allies.

Sources said if not earlier, a solution to the stalemate is likely by early next week.

An opposition leader toldthat government is keen to talk separately to opposition parties for a solution but they want that any discussion should be held with all the parties together.

The government has said that it is keen for the participation of opposition members in the House and is keen to hear constructive criticism of legislations.

With members of some opposition parties not in the House on Tuesday, Joshi urged the chair to defer taking up the Dam Safety Bill.

Kharge said on Wednesday that there will be "no apology".

"We are requesting them to forget what happened and work on the welfare of the people and the country," Kharge told ANI.

Communist Party of India leader Binoy Viswam also said that tendering "an apology is out of the question".

The MPs were suspended for the remaining part of the winter session on Monday. They sat on a protest near the iconic Gandhi statue inside Parliament premises against their suspension.

The suspended MPs include six from Congress, two each from TMC and Shiv Sena and one each from CPM and CPI. They are Elamaram Kareem of CPI-M, Phulo Devi Netam, Chhaya Verma, R Bora, Rajamani Patel, Syed Nasir Hussain and Akhilesh Prasad Singh of Congress, Binoy Viswam of CPI, Dola Sen and Shanta Chhetri of Trinamool Congress and Priyanka Chaturvedi and Anil Desai of Shiv Sena.

( With inputs from ANI )

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