BJP, Left accuse UPA Government of scuttling voice of Parliament

New Delhi, Oct.17 : The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government, which is headed by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, was roundly criticised on Friday by the Left and the Bharatiya Janata Party for stifling and scuttling the voice of Parliament.

While the BJP said that it was absurd to commence the Winter Session of Parliament on a Friday, the last working day of the week, the Left termed as ridiculous the UPA Government's move to reduce the sittings to a record low of 30 days so far this year.

Leader of Opposition L K Advani questioned the status, timing and schedule of the current session which is scheduled to last till November 21.

"We told the government that this Parliament session cannot be considered a continuation of the last session when the trust vote was held," he said after attending an all-party meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.

He wondered how can there be such a session when assembly elections have been declared in five states and that of Jammu and Kashmir may be announced soon.

CPM leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters that the "jettisoning" of Monsoon session was unheard of and said even during Emergency days all sessions were held, though in truncated form.

Striking a similar note, CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said even the BJP had not done such a thing during its rule as Congress was doing now, which is a "threat to the Parliamentary system".

Yechury even spoke of a proposal for a 10-day holiday from October 25 to November 5 during the session in view of the festive season.

ANI