Govt likely to bring a motion condemning the Red Fort incident in Budget Session

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 28

The Narendra Modi government is likely to bring a motion condemning the Red Fort incident during the Budget session of Parliament beginning on Friday.

While the broad framework is expected to be around the actual act, which the BJP has dubbed as “attack on democracy”,  sources say the motion may also include the background of agitation, including the process of 11 round of talks with farmers’ unions on the three contentious farm laws.

Sources said the government wanted Parliament to pass a resolution condemning the incident after taking into consideration “the sense of the House”.

An angry mob of supporters protesting against the laws stormed the historic Red Fort on January 26 and hoisted a Sikh religious flag, breaking through police barricades to storm the complex.

Also read: Bengal assembly passes resolution demanding withdrawal of new farm laws

The “strategic move” by the ruling BJP is unlikely to find any opposition from rival parties in Parliament, it is believed. In all likelihood, it may be supported by all political parties if their views, post the incident, were any indication.

While the BJP has called the act of protesters hoisting the flag at Red Fort as an “attack on democracy”, the Opposition parties, particularly the Congress, have blamed the Centre.

Rivals called the Republic Day mayhem as “government conspiracy” to discredit the farmers’ agitation, also questioning how a section of aggressors were allowed to storm the Red Fort while Delhi police “looked the other way”.

However, even as the Opposition sought to put the onus on the BJP-led government, it also distanced themselves from the “violence” in the agitation.

Motions and resolutions are procedural devices to raise a discussion on the floor of the two Houses — the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha — on the matters of general public interest.

The process of debate in the House is initiated by a member or Minister by making a motion. Broadly, the term ‘motion’ means any proposal submitted to the House for eliciting its decision.

Every matter is determined by means of a question put from the Chair on a motion made by a member and resolved either in the affirmative or negative. The decision which has thus been elicited, turns the motion into a resolution or order of the House.