Sources said that the defence minister took the backseat, a rarest of rare happening, as a “political satyagrah” to mark his protest against the opposition parties conduct of trooping into the well, shouting slogans and waving placards while he was speaking about a bill, which had been cleared by the parliamentary panels with unanimity. Singh’s designated seat is next to the prime minister’s on the right flank but went to the second last row to deliver his speech.
While opposition MPs were shouting slogans and displaying placards, Singh took the permission of the Chair to speak from one of the seats in the back benches. BJP MP Rajendra Agarwal was presiding the session and expressed regret saying that it was ironic that a senior minister had to go to the back seat after being denied to speak on an important bill.
When Singh went to the back seat, even the opposition bench was taken aback and Congress leader in the house Adhir Ranjan Choudhary was seen urging the protesting MPs to return to their respective seats and allow the minister complete his speech. However, the protesting MPs paid no heed and continued protesting. A parliamentary panel had recently recommended that the Bill be passed without any amendments.
“The Defence Minister in his speech informed the house that there was no amendment in the bill cleared by the parliamentary panel and it was expected that the members will maintain decorum as the bill was related to defence personnel. Since opposition MPs continued with protests, Singh chose the back seat for his brief speech,” a functionary close to the defence minister said.
The minister sources said was unhappy also for the fact that the opposition MPs had resorted to disruptions despite taking part in the discussion when the Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
Even Home Minister Amit Shah while speaking on the NCTD Bill on Thursday had hit out at the opposition parties for taking part in the discussion and had either resorted to protests or were absent when nine other bills were passed.
Singh’s protest followed a similar gesture by Om Birla, who had skipped presiding over the house proceedings last Wednesday despite being in Lok Sabha as he was unhappy at the continuous disruptions. Birla returned to chair the house on Wednesday.
Earlier, Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 12 noon following protests by opposition members demanding a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Manipur issue. As soon as the House met, opposition members came to the well of the House seeking a statement from the prime minister on the Manipur issue. They also demanded a debate.
