New Delhi: The second phase of the budget session will begin on Monday with the government insisting that its priority is to pass the Finance Bill and the opposition planning to raise issues such as action by central agencies against BJP’s political rivals and allegations against the Adani group. Is. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge insisted that he wanted to play a constructive role in holding the government accountable and sought discussion in the House on “every burning issue before the nation”.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday sought views of leaders of various political parties on ways to prevent disruptions in the House. Opposition members raised the issue of alleged misuse of central agencies against non-BJP governments and the move to appoint Dhankhar’s personal staff to parliamentary committees.
Opposition parties will meet on Monday morning to chalk out their strategy in both Houses of Parliament after the first half of the budget session was marred by their opposition to the Hindenburg-Adani issue.
Congress whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore told PTI that his party wanted the opposition to take a united stand.
“We will continue to raise people’s issues – price hike, LPG cost, Adani, misuse of agencies, farmers’ issues, interference of governors. We will continue to work with all like-minded parties. Tomorrow’s meeting for the same purpose Called as we wish.” Let the opposition unite.”
Congress leader K Suresh said his party would continue to seek answers from the government on the Adani-Hindenburg issue as it was maintaining a deliberate silence.
The main opposition party is pressing for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe.
Opposition parties are also likely to vocally raise the issue of recent raids by the CBI and ED against their leaders, some of whom were questioned and even arrested in various cases . He accused the BJP-led government at the Center of misusing central agencies to target leaders of BJP’s rival parties.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal told PTI on Sunday that the government’s top priority is to pass the financial bill.
He said that the demands for grants of ministries including Railways, Panchayati Raj, Tourism, Culture and Health will be discussed. Speaker Om Birla will later apply the guillotine, after which all outstanding demands for grants, whether discussed or not, will be put to vote and passed.
“Then we will get the Finance Bill passed. After that we will look into the demands of the opposition… The first responsibility of the government is to get the Finance Bill passed. Then we will discuss the demands of the opposition.” ” They said.
The session, which began on January 31, is likely to end on April 6. Parliament is meeting after a month-long recess, which allowed various parliamentary panels to examine allocations made in the Union Budget for various ministries.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the second batch of supplementary demands for grants for 2022-23 on Monday.
She will also present the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir’s budget for the year 2023-24 in the Lok Sabha. The UT is currently under the central governance.
The Lok Sabha’s order paper for Monday lists two items.
There was also a face-to-face meeting between Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Kharge and Dhankhar on Sunday.
“Met up with @VPIndia to seek their cooperation ahead of the upcoming session of Parliament,” Kharge said in a tweet.
“As an opposition party, we are keen to play a constructive role in holding the government accountable and seek discussion on every burning issue facing the country,” he said.
met @VPIndiaTo seek their co-operation before the next session of Parliament.
We, the opposition party, are keen to play a constructive role in holding the government accountable and seek discussion on every burning issue facing the country. pic.twitter.com/aO82nO2k23– Leader of the Opposition, Rajya Sabha (@LoPIndia) March 12, 2023
Kharge had on Friday accused the Narendra Modi government of “devious attempts to murder democracy” by misusing investigative agencies against opposition leaders.
The Samajwadi Party, the Left and the DMK were among those protesting against the alleged attack on the federal structure and “misuse” of institutions.
The Trinamool Congress will raise Parliament issues such as risk exposure of LIC and SBI, rise in prices of essential commodities, unemployment and “misuse” of central agencies during the second phase of the session, its Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’Brien said recently. Was .
He said that LIC’s risk aversion and price rise affects the lives of common man and their savings and should be exposed.
O’Brien said the TMC would also raise the issue of “political vendetta” against non-BJP-ruled states in Parliament and question the central government over “withholding funds for schemes like MGNREGA”.
In the meeting with Dhankhar, several leaders of the House raised the issue of appointment of his personal staff in parliamentary committees.
The Vice President responded by saying that the only objective behind the move was to optimize human resources and achieve the output of the committees.
The staff were not participating members of the committee and were only there to assist, facilitate and provide research material, he was quoted as saying.
Sources said Dhankhar stressed that he was committed to improving the functioning of the committees.
In the all-party meeting, AAP raised the issue of alleged misuse of investigative agencies and the Adani-Hindenburg case.
Its leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was recently arrested by the CBI and ED in cases related to the alleged Delhi Excise Policy scam. Former Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain is already in jail on charges of money laundering.
Opposition parties are also preparing to surround the government on issues like China border dispute and unemployment.