"Opposition obstructing House not in keeping with dignity of democracy": BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal

New Delhi [India], December 3 : BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal on Wednesday criticised the opposition for obstructing parliamentary proceedings, saying that the government has always emphasised that the issues under discussion in the House can be comfortably debated.
"Certainly, our government has always emphasised that the issues under discussion in the House can be comfortably debated. But the way the opposition obstructs the House is not in keeping with the dignity of democracy... I am fully confident that when discussion takes place on both issues, the opposition will maintain a positive mindset, making the discussion meaningful," the BJP MP told ANI.
Meanwhile, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that he is looking forward to "a very constructive and engaging discussion" on election reforms after an agreement between the government and opposition to resolve the impasse over demand for discussion on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
He said SIR is an administrative matter of Election Commission and there was need to widen the scope of debate.
"Election Commission reform is a larger issue which is conducted by the Govt and discussed in the Parliament. Parliament makes laws. So, for bigger reforms in the Election Commission and Election process, Parliament takes up all the matters. SIR is an administrative matter which was decided by the Election Commission of India. That is why, I had stated that if at all we have to discuss about the Election Commission and its role, then we have to widen the scope, you can't just pick up a matter which is administrative in nature, conducted by the Election Commission of India without any direction or consultation from the Government," he said.
Lok Sabha will take up discussion on 150 years of Vande Mataram song on Monday and on electoral reforms on Tuesday. The winter session of Parliament started on December 1.