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JNU row to dominate session

Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Ghulam Nabi Azad, CPI leader D. Raja and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury after an all-party meeting called by Union parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu ahead of the Budget Session at Parliament House in New Delhi on Monday. — PTI

Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Ghulam Nabi Azad, CPI leader D. Raja and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury after an all-party meeting called by Union parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu ahead of the Budget Session at Parliament House in New Delhi on Monday. — PTI

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 parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah 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 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,” 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 RS 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.”

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