Opposition’s abstention helps govt pass laws easily, says Azad

Former Parliamentary Affairs minister Ghulam Nabi Azad Thursday said the Parliament should be allowed to function smoothly as abstention from proceedings by the opposition only helps the government.

“I am against disrupting the functioning of the House. If you do not allow the House to function, then why do you get elected? Entering the House means you will raise the national, international, and domestic issues, and the problems of the people in the Parliament before the government,” he said.

Azad’s remark comes amid uproar in Rajya Sabha by Opposition parties, who protested against PM Narendra Modi not responding to a debate on Operation Sindoor in the House. “The government becomes happy when the opposition walks out because it can then pass laws easily. So, the walkout by the opposition helps the government, it does not oppose them,” Azad told reporters here.

Azad, who was the Parliamentary Affairs Minister from May 2004 to November 2005 in the Manmohan Singh government, said he is always in favour of the smooth functioning of the Parliament.

On the April 22 Pahalgam attack, the former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir said the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has owned the responsibility for the security failure and the chapter closes there.