Budget Session: No controversial bills in first half, Opposition warns govt

As the government braces itself for the Budget Session of Parliament starting Tuesday, the Opposition parties made it clear they won’t allow the passage of any key bill in the first half of the session, and accused the government of “setting the agenda for disruption”. President Pranab Mukherjee will address the joint session on Tuesday.

While the government said it wants all issues, including the JNU row, to be discussed, the Opposition said it will allow only those bills to be passed on which there was a general consensus.

At an all-party meeting called by parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, the Opposition leaders lamented that PM Narendra Modi and the BJP hadn’t acted against a single leader making “provocative” statements. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan also called a meeting of leaders of all parties Monday evening, that was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Ms Mahajan hoped the House will run smoothly and all issues to be discussed will be decided at a meeting of the business advisory committee on Tuesday. After the meeting, Ms Mahajan said there was a consensus among all parties that Parliament should function.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said: “Contentious bills should not be brought. Bring only those bills on which there is a general agreement. Bills like GST will not come in the first half.” Asked if the GST Bill could be passed in the second half, he evaded a direct reply, saying a view will be taken then.

With the Opposition closing ranks to corner the government on the JNU issue, the BJP is of the view that it stands to gain by turning the debate into one between “nationalists and anti-nationals”. The party has already submitted motions in both Houses for a discussion on the issue. The JNU issue is likely to come up on Wednesday in the Rajya Sabha, where the government is in a minority.

During the meeting convened by Mr Naidu, which saw leaders from various parties including the BJP demanding an early debate on the JNU row, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury spoke of a “chilling parallel” between the current situation in India with that in Germany which led to the rise of fascism.

“The government is setting the agenda for Parliament’s disruption even before its session has begun. We have seen this agenda of the BJP for the last three-four sessions,” he said.

Describing the meeting as “very positive”, Mr Naidu said all parties were in favour of running Parliament. He also said a number of regional parties felt they were not getting adequate time to raise issues due to disruptions. “Smaller parties had a complaint that they’re not able to raise issues due to the disruption. The government is ready to discuss all issues, including JNU and the dalit scholar suicide in Hyderabad University,” said Mr Naidu.

Mr Yechury said, however, that the government should earmark time to discuss all issues. “If the government does not earmark time, there will be disruptions,” he said.

Mr Naidu pledged the government will allow discussion on “issues and events the parties are concerned about”. He said: “These include demand for reservation of Jats, incidents in JNU and related developments in a Delhi court, the suicide of Rohith Vemula, political events in Arunachal Pradesh. The government is as concerned about these issues as any other party and we are more than keen for a detailed discussion on all of them.”

Holding the government responsible for non-functioning of Parliament in the last two sessions, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said the government and the ruling party failed to take action on issues raised by the Opposition over controversial statements by BJP leaders. “If the government feels helpless to take action, it should authorise a committee of Opposition parties to take action against them,” he said, adding that Parliament was “vertically divided”. Mr Azad said: “No Opposition party is responsible for that. The blame squarely lies with the ruling party, which has failed to rein in its people.”