NEW DELHI, Dec 27:
Government on Wednesday made another bid to resolve the stalemate in the Rajya Sabha over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statements against his predecessor Manmohan Singh during the campaign for the Gujarat assembly polls.
Leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the remarks by the PM were not intended to question the contributions of Dr Singh or former Vice President Hsamid Ansari.
Mr Jaitley said,”On several occasions last week, the Leader of the Opposition has raised the issue of the PM’s speeches during the election campaign for Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Many statements were made from both the sides during the elections .
”We wish to state that the PM did not intend to question to question the contributions made by Dr Manmohan Singh and former Vice President Hamid Ansari to this nation. Any impression created in this regard is erroneous,”Mr Jaitley said.
Thanking Mr Jaitley for his statement, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad assured that there was no intention by any leader of the Congress to make any statement that sought to lower the dignity of the PM.
”I want to assure that the Congress does not want to say anything that lowers the dignity of the PM’s post. If any leader from our party has made any such statement, we disassociate ourselves with it,”Mr Azad said.
The statement by the Leader of the House and Finance Minister has helped to resolve the stalemate between the Government and the Opposition in Parliament on the reported allegations by the PM against Dr Manmohan Singh of conspiring with Pakistan for the Gujarat elections.
The Congress party has been protesting the statement by the PM, leading to disruption of the proceedings of the house over the last week. With the stalemate resolved, the House took up consideration of the Forest Rights Amendment Bill and the statutory resolution moved by Mr Subbi Rami Reddy disapproving of the related ordinance.
On Wednesday, the Upper House had witnessed two adjournments earlier as the Opposition protested the remarks by Union Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde on the Constitution. The Council of States was first adjourned till 1200 hours and later till 1400 hours. (UNI)
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