The first discussion on an Opposition-sponsored issue in this winter session on Thursday created a stir among some other opposition parties that saw it as a soft issue, and one the government would have no issues discussing.
To be sure, the discussion was on the critical issue of global warming. The motion for a discussion on this issue was moved by DMK Rajya Sabha member Tiruchi Siva, who made the news earlier this year when his estranged son defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party, from which he was expelled last month.
The issue, leaders of other opposition parties said, was not among the issues the opposition agreed to raise at a meeting on December 8.
Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’Brien termed the debate as a government ploy to avoid debate on other issues. “Oppn parties incl TMC want #Parliament to discuss now: 1. Federal structure. Economic blockade destabilizing state govts 2. NE issues, focus Meghalaya 3. Unemployment. 4. Price rise. 5. Misuse of central agencies. 6. China GOVT STUNT. To avoid these, discus Global Warming,” he tweeted.
Siva, however, said it was a “very healthy discussion because we all have a concern about the future and the present too.” In his speech, he added that tackling global warming “is not the responsibility of only the Union Government; it is also that of the State Governments; it is also that of the private sector; it is also that of the civil society, yourself, myself and everyone in the country.”
Hours before the debate started, leaders of Trinamool Congress, the second largest Opposition party in Parliament, tried to point out to Siva that global warming was not one of the 21 issues identified by the Opposition in a meeting on December 8.
According to two senior functionaries, a section of Opposition leaders even spoke to Congress MP Pramod Tiwari after the latter was found to have seconded Siva’s motion.
“One non-Congress Opposition leader contacted a senior Congress strategist over the issue to flag the concerns. But when the debate resumed, leaders of various parties including TMC participated,” added another opposition leader.
A section of the Opposition argued that global warming was never identified as a key issue in the meeting of the Opposition. A DMK leader, however, added that “the government has made it clear there won’t be any debate on India-China border situation. It was a correct decision to switch over to a key subject such as global warning”.
Another TMC member Jawhar Sircar tried to underline there are other issues too. “This is a subject that affects all of us, but there are many other issues also which we would like to raise; we have been raising them, like the federal structure, North-East including Meghalaya, unemployment, price rise, misuse of the Central agencies and the border issues with China.”