New Delhi: The Shiv Sena party on Thursday, blamed the government for the repeated adjournments and disruptions of the parliament in the second half of the budget session. The reason cited by the Shiv Sena lawmaker Arvind Sawant was the upcoming elections in Karnataka.

“We feel that the government did not want the House to function and Karnataka polls was the reason behind it,” the Shiv Sena lawmaker from Southwest Mumbai has said.

Mr Sawant also alleged that the government at the centre did not form the Cauvery River Water Management Board despite the directive issued by the Supreme Court to be able avoid alienating voters in Karnataka, a move, strictly opposed to the Apex court’s order. The same allegation is also leveled by the political parties in Tamil Nadu. The Cauvery River Water Management Board, once implemented, will facilitate water sharing formula among Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.

The AIADMK MPs of Tamil Nadu have been protesting in Lok Sabha over the issue of setting up Cauvery Management Board, causing repeated disruptions.  Talking about these protests, Mr Sawant said the Speaker Sumitra Mahajan did not use strong words or rebuke the protesting lawmakers from Tamil Nadu.

The Opposition in the state of Tamil Nadu has put up an allegation on  AIADMK, which are famous for being friendly to the ruling BJP, blocked all types of business in house to ensure that a no-confidence motion is taken up in the Parliament against the Narendra Modi Government.

Over the last 22 days, the Parliament did not function at all. The second part of the session began on March 5 and is scheduled to end on Friday.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, had on Wednesday announced that the MPs belonging to the BJP-led ruling coalition would not take their salaries and allowances by giving up voluntarily amid a long-running debate on a “no work, no pay” rule for MPs.

The move was widely seen as an attempt to put blame on the opposition for the disruptions due to the fact that those parties had moved a no-confidence motion against the government.

But the Shiv Sena on Thursday said that it is “not on the same page” with the BJP on the issue of the NDA MPs forgoing their salary.

“This is not the question of salary. We, as MPs, have been doing our work. Even if Parliament was not functioning, we have held meetings with ministries to address the problems faced by our people,” he said.

The Shiv Sena is the second largest member of the NDA with its 18 MPs. There is a strained relationship between the two allies and has seen Udhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena make regular Jabs at the BJP and the central government for which it is an ally as of now.

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