The CPI(M) on Thursday ridiculed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s absence when the Constitutional Amendment Bill on Goods and Services Tax (GST) was put to vote in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Party general secretary Sitaram Yechury said it is the primary responsibility of a lawmaker to be present in Parliament when an amendment Bill is put to vote.
Modi’s absence reflected his attitude towards Parliament, Yechury said. “It is an important legislation. The BJP had given whips to its MPs.
The PM should have been present at the time of voting,” he added. Though the Prime Minister was in the Parliament building, he did not cast his vote on the Bill yesterday.
CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Mohammed Salim said that by not voting on an amendment, Modi proved that the respect he had shown to Parliament by bowing down was hollow.
No daily offerings “Modi called Parliament a temple of democracy. But he does not make daily offerings,” Salim said.
Yechury added that the Modi government is attempting to bulldoze many crucial legislations without parliamentary scrutiny and meaningful debate. Since Modi assumed office all crucial legislations in the Lok Sabha are being bulldozed by exercising the “the tyranny of the majority”, he said.
Bypassing parliamentary procedures is the surest highway towards authoritarianism, the CPI(M) leader said.
“Not one crucial legislative proposal has been referred to the standing committee by this 16th Lok Sabha. As a result, when these are brought before the Rajya Sabha, they were referred to a select committee. Over the past few months, the Rajya Sabha has had to constitute at least seven select committees on various legislations,” he said.