Parliament: Hard lines drawn; Budget session risks washout
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, March 21: Within minutes Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bills were passed by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday amid the logjam in both the Houses of Parliament. The manner of the passage of the J&K Appropriation Bills may be employed for the demands for grants of various ministries in the next few days, as the government and the Opposition refuse to talk to each other.
The second half of the Budget session still has two weeks left, but there appears no signs of the warring treasury and Opposition benches burying hatchets to allow the two Houses to function. Guillotine may be the last resort for the government.
The heft of the Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar was exposed on Tuesday as his call for a meeting was responded by only the YSR Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP), besides the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Opposition stays united in their demand to a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the alleged Rs 1 lakh crore Adani scam. The Opposition leaders stepped up their protests by taking the first floor of the Parliament building in front of the statue of Mahatama Gandhi to attract attention to their agitation.
The ruling BJP too is sticking to its demand of an apology from the former chief of Congress Rahul Gandhi for allegedly insulting India in his remarks made in London. He, however, is unfazed. “Savarkar samjha hai kya..naam Rahul Gandhi hai (have you taken me as Savarakar, I am Rahul Gandhi,” he had posted on his timeline on Monday evening.
“Piyush Goyal (leader of the Rajya Sabha) is accusing Opposition of boycotting meeting called by Chairman Rajya Sabha. This is from the Leader of the House who got his MPs to prevent leader of Opposition Mallikarjuna Kharge from speaking twice after Chairman had permitted him. Silencing of LoP is also an issue quite apart from the JPC on Adani,” tweeted Jairam Ramesh, Congress national general secretary and in-charge of the communication department.
Goyal countered by claiming that the MPs are worried about “what kind of message is going out to the youth”. “I believe that Opposition has disrespected the House once again. They don’t have any other grounds to stay in headlines,” added Goyal.
With the two sides not speaking to each other and the presiding officers struggling to gain attention of the Opposition leaders, a washout appears imminent.
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