NEW DELHI, JULY 17 (UNI) Opposition Congress on Sunday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s absence at an all-party meeting called by the government ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi retorted by questioning how many times former PM Manmohan Singh at- tended all party meets during the UPA times.
An all-party meeting, called by Joshi ahead of the Monsoon Session also saw the Opposition raising issues like the recently issued new list of unparliamentary words, as well as the circular by Rajya Sabha restricting dharnas and protests in the Parliament complex. As PM Modi missed the all-party meeting, Congress media department head Jai- ram Ramesh questioned why the Prime Minister was absent at the meeting and asked if it was not ‘unparliamentary’.“All Party Meeting to discuss forthcoming session of Parliament has just begun and the Prime Minister, as usual, is absent. Isn’t this ‘unparliamentary’?” Ramesh said in a tweet.
Talking to the media after the meeting concluded, Joshi questioned how many times former PM Manmohan Singh attended the all-party meets during the UPA tenure. He also said a seniormost leader in the House Rajnath Singh chaired the meeting. Joshi said the government had invited 45 political parties, and 36 attended.
He also clarified on the recently issued list of un- parliamentary words and said it is a routine practice, and only the Speaker or Chairman has the right to decide what is unparliamentary. Referring to the circular banning protests in Parliament precincts, he said such circulars are issued before every session. He added that the Opposition was making issues out of ‘non-issues’, “Since they don’t have any issues against the government. The government is functioning extremely well.
