Manish Tewari seeks framing of law mandating functioning of Parliament for 100 days in a year

New Delhi : Congress MP Manish Tewari while delivering his last speech in the old Parliament House, on Monday suggested that a law mandating the Parliament and assemblies of larger states to function for at least 100 days per year, while assemblies of smaller states function for at least 55 days, should be framed.

Participating in the discussion on the 75 years of Parliament on the first day of the special session of Parliament, which was also the last day of functioning in the old Parliament building, Tewari also suggested a relook at the anti-defection law as it has proved irrelevant in the past few years, while referring to several defections of Congress MPs to BJP.

Demanding a discussion on the Chinese intrusion into India at the LAC, he warned that such important issues were being overlooked for debate.

The Congress MP also listed the several achievements by Parliament in past 75 years including abolishing untouchability, reservation for SC/ST, Right to Education and Right to Work among others.

Lauding Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhara Rao, BRS MP Nama Nageshwara Rao said while participating in the discussion, that with mere two MPs, he had demanded the creation of Telangana and in 2014 the AP Reorganisation Bill was passed.

“While PM Modi said that the creation of Telangana has left a bitter taste, Telangana is number one in India in terms of water supply, electrification, medical facilities,” Nama Nageshwara Rao added.

His speech was interrupted by slogans raised by other party MPs from Telangana.

Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal spoke about the achievements of the Punjabi Sikh community.

 She lamented the 1984 Sikh riots and sought a unanimous condemnation of it in Parliament.

Samajwadi Party member S.T Hasan during the discussion on 75 years of Parliamentary democracy, lamented the incarceration of fellow party colleague and former MP Azam Khan.

He claimed that his party had approached the Prime Minister and the Lok Sabha Speaker, seeking their help in Khan’s release, but to no avail.

Hasan also condemned the growing intolerance against Muslims citing the objections to Hijab, Azaan, Namaz and Triple Talaq.

He said that he fears the marginalisation of the Muslim community.

Targetting the previous Congress governments, BSP MP Girish Chandra claimed that Jawaharlal Nehru had conspired to defeat Babasaheb Ambedkar in the first general election by not supporting him.

Listing Ambedkar’s achievements, he reminded how Ambedkar was forced to resign as the law minister due to the many hurdles erected by the Congress.

Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay said that, “before moving from old building to new, we need to understand the true meaning of our country India that is Bharat. We are happy and comfortable with both names. We want to reiterate this.”

“In a Parliamentary democracy, the House should belong to the Opposition. Bills are being passed without debate or discussion. It is not a good precedent. Both sides are to be more objective in their approach and outlook,” he added.