VK Singh stir may paralyse Rajya Sabha

GST bill may become casualty of Congress, BSP protest With the government all set to push its legislative agenda in Parliament in the coming week, the Congress and the BSP seem to have closed ranks to escalate their agitation in the Rajya Sabha against Union minister of state V.K. Singh over his “dog” analogy after the killing of two dalit children in Haryana.

“There is a sense that the functioning of the Rajya Sabha will be paralysed in the coming week. The Congress and the BSP are determined to corner the government against Gen. Singh. Since the government will push its legislative agenda, the two parties are looking forward to forcing the NDA into a corner,” a senior Opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha said.

Incidentally, the government has listed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill in the list of business in the Rajya Sabha in the coming week. The government has also listed a number of other legislative proposals which have been passed by the Lok Sabha.

Incidentally, the Congress and the BSP have seized the opportunity to play the dalit card with the hope of polarising caste groups, which in the recent elections had been floating between the BJP (LS 2014) and the JD(U)-RJD (Bihar). “Dalits had backed the NDA in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, but the outcome of the Bihar polls has shown that they have gone back to socialist parties. Since 2016 is a year full of state elections and moves for the big-ticket Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls have begun playing out, the Congress, BSP, and the Left will not let go of the opportunity presented by V.K. Singh’s remarks to polarise this floating constituency,” sources said.

Besides raking up Gen. Singh’s “dog” remarks, Congress MP Kumari Selja had claimed in Parliament that she was asked her caste during a visit to a temple in Dwarka, Gujarat. Congress MPs belonging to the Rajya Sabha, at a meeting on Saturday, have resolved to persist with the agitation against Gen. Singh. The government, however, is determined to push the GST Bill in the Rajya Sabha, which had earlier been passed by the Lok Sabha and the select committee on it has already submitted its report.

The government is likely to reach out to the Congress early next week to address issues raised by former PM Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in their meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.The business advisory committee of the RS has allotted a time of four hours for the GST Bill.