4 days ago
BJP MPs object to Medha Patkar, Prakash Raj at parliamentary panel meeting, walk out
A political row erupted between the BJP and the Opposition on Tuesday after the ruling party's MPs on the parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj boycotted its meeting in protest against the presence of activist Medha Patkar and actor-turned-activist Prakash Raj who had been invited to depose before the panel.
The meeting, which was eventually cancelled, had been convened to discuss the implementation and effectiveness of the 'Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013'. While the BJP MPs alleged that the committee's chairman Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, a Congress MP from Odisha, had kept the members in the dark about the witnesses summoned for deposition and had summoned 'anti-nationals' and 'urban Naxals', Ulaka said the Lok Sabha Speaker's office had cleared the names but the BJP leaders were 'not ready to listen'.
Of the 29 members of the parliamentary panel, 14 were present on Tuesday, and with eight MPs of the BJP-led NDA boycotting, Ulaka had to cancel the meeting as there was no quorum. BJP sources said apart from their party's MPs, ally Janata Dal (Secular)'s leader and former PM H D Deve Gowda followed them. However, Congress sources claimed that Deve Gowda did not boycott the meeting.
Sources said the BJP MPs felt 'agitated' when they saw Patkar and Raj, and refused to enter the meeting hall unless Patkar, a founding member of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, was sent back. As a member of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, Patkar has earned the ire of BJP leaders and workers for her campaign against the Sardar Sarovar Dam project in Gujarat. Raj, a popular actor, is known for his anti-BJP views.
The BJP MPs are learnt to have questioned Ulaka for inviting 'anti-nationals'. One BJP MP is learnt to have said that if people such as Patkar and Raj were being invited to depose before a parliamentary panel, next time they might as well invite the Pakistan PM. Another BJP MP is said to have complained about 'urban Naxals' being invited to Parliament.
'We boycotted the meeting because we were kept in the dark about who was coming as witnesses. We entered and saw Medha Patkar sitting there. We should have been given the list of these people and which NGO they belong to. How could the chairman keep such information from us?' BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal told The Indian Express.
The ruling party's members said Ulaka rejected their suggestion to hear senior officials from the Department of Land Resources, and the ministries of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and Tribal Affairs who too had been invited on Tuesday. 'We were very clear that we would not allow the activists to depose first,' said Jaiswal.
'It was not decided in any of the meetings who would come to the parliamentary committee. Prakash Raj's name was not in the list. Why should we listen to someone whose background we don't know?' said BJP MP Raju Bista.
Responding to the BJP leaders, Ulaka told The Indian Express, 'We had such meetings several times. It is a normal procedure; the agenda was set, officers from the ministries concerned and the stakeholders, including those who are working in NGOs and other civil society representatives, were invited. The Speaker's office was informed and the list was approved. However, when they (BJP MPs) saw Medha Patkar, they, in a synchronised way, started shouting, 'She should not be allowed.' I told them just listen to her as she is someone who has been fighting for the landless people and their rehabilitation.'
'What's wrong with listening to her?' the Congress MP asked. 'The committee together prepares the report, and we submit our recommendations to the government. It's the government that takes the decisions, we do not.'
His party colleague and fellow panel member Imran Masood labelled the BJP members' behaviour as 'anarchy'.
'If you have called someone, you should listen to them, irrespective of whether you agree with them or not. They walked out. We called them … This is anarchy. You are not following parliamentary procedure. Why can't you listen? The BJP people didn't want to hear about issues related to land acquisition of marginalised people,' he said.
Apart from Patkar and Raj, the committee had invited 10 more civil society representatives. Although Standing Committee reports carry significant influence, they are not legally binding on the government. The meeting on Tuesday would have been the 29th meeting of the committee. Till now, it has discussed matters such as 'Rural Employment through Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)', the 'Status of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA)', and reviewed the progress made under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.
