Govt biggest beneficiary when Parliament doesn't function: Derek O'Brien

The government is the biggest beneficiary when Parliament does not function, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien said on Wednesday.

In a post on X, the TMC's Rajya Sabha floor leader said two days of the Monsoon session have been "washed out" and blamed the Union government for it.

"Two days of Parliament were washed out by the Union government. When Parliament doesn't function, who benefits? Government in power," O'Brien said. "Government accountable to Parliament; Parliament accountable to people. When Parliament is dysfunctional, the government is accountable to no one." He also shared an article from his blog post, in which he said the Monsoon Session had a total time schedule of 190 hours, around 70 per cent of which had been issued by the government.

O'Brien said about half the questions for Question Hour and half the number of notices for Zero Hour are filed by Opposition MPs, which adds up to 31 hours for members of the Opposition to raise questions and matters of public importance.

The senior TMC leader said the Union government gets 135 hours out of the total 190 for government business and other issues, which he said is around 70 per cent of the total time.

"There is a legitimate need to cut down on the hours available to the government. Allot some more time to the Opposition," he suggested.

"Four hours must be reserved each week, in each House, to allow discussions on matters of urgent public importance. Additionally, two hours should also be reserved for a Calling Attention motion," the TMC leader said.

This would mean about 117 hours for government business and 49 hours for the Opposition, a much fairer system, he added.