Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, also a member of Rajya Sabha, on Wednesday urged the government to allot more time in Parliament to discuss issues related to farmers and the agriculture sector.
Welcoming Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar as the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Gowda said he had several such bitter experiences over the past two decades and urged him and the Speaker of Lok Sabha to reconsider the time given to MPs to address the respective Houses.
"I am the only single member in this house with a bitter experience from the last 20 years. It is getting very difficult to get an opportunity to speak in the House at the given time. Being a farmer and coming from rural India, I used to take a lot of time to address farming-related issues and problems in remote areas of the country," the 89-year-old Gowda said.
"If the party has a single member only two to three minutes were given to speak. Hence, it was a very bad experience for me in the House. I humbly request the speakers of both the Houses to reconsider the time given and allow leaders to speak on the issues for longer," he urged.