Pralhad Joshi: Opposition MP's suspension will be revoked

NEW DELHI: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday said that the government has requested the presiding officers of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to revoke the suspension of MPs, who had been suspended during the winter session of Parliament.

The minister made the remarks after an all-party meeting ahead of the budget session of Parliament which begins on Wednesday.

"All (suspensions) will be revoked. I have spoken with the (Lok Sabha) Speaker and (Rajya Sabha) Chairman, I have also requested them on behalf of the government. This is the jurisdiction of the Speaker and the Chairman. So, we have requested both of them to speak with the concerned privileged committees, revoke the suspension and give them the opportunity to come to the House. Both of them agreed," Joshi said.

Asked if the suspended MPs will come to the House from tomorrow, Joshi said "Yes".

An unprecedented 146 opposition MPs were suspended from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha during the winter session of Parliament for "violating rules".

Joshi said that 45 leaders from 30 parties, including the ruling BJP, attended the meeting.

"The meeting was held in a conducive atmosphere. This is a short session and the last one of the 17th Lok Sabha. We have requested the MPs to not come with placards," Joshi said.

Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said that inflation and unemployment are two important issues that the party would raise in the budget session.

"Inflation and unemployment are two important issues which we will raise in the upcoming session. Investigative agencies are being misused. The latest example of the way ED is working is that of Jharkhand's CM Hemant Soren. Apart from this, atrocities continue in Manipur. I specifically want to say that the debt burden on the country is increasing," he said.

"I have raised issues regarding economic situation, federal structure, violent attacks on Rahul Gandhi's Yatra in Assam, doubling the income of farmers, ED-CBI raids, caste census among others," he added.

Asked about Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's statement that there will be "no more polls if PM Modi wins", Tiwari alleged that the government doesn't believe in democracy. "What if they change the election process? The public should use its rights and root out the Modi government," he said.

Congress MP K Suresh accused the BJP government of using central agencies as weapons against the opposition. "They want to destabilise the opposition as they are scared of opposition unity."

TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay alleged that the government is not willing to answer questions.

"We also raised the issue of suspension of 150 MPs but the attitude of the government is not to reply to any question."

The Budget Session will commence with the address of President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday to the joint sitting of the two Houses.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the interim Union Budget on Thursday.

The session would conclude on February 9.