Parliament: Opposition plans flash flood; govt aims chink in unity plank
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, July 1: The second half of the Budget session was fully washed out on the government and the Opposition gridlock over the Adani issue. The Monsoon session of Parliament, commencing from July 20, is bracing up for a super charged Opposition, abying for the blood of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The Monsoon session of Parliament in an election year is generally without heavy treasury businesses. This will be the third last Parliament session for Narendra Modi-led National democratic Alliance (NDA) government before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, slated for February-March next year.
The Congress didn’t lose minutes after the official announcement of the date of the commencement of the Monsoon session of Parliament to count issues to be taken up the two Houses. “Besides the demand for the joint parliamentary committee probe in the allegations in Adani issue, we will raise the issues of the continued violence in Manipur and also the Balasore train mishap,” said Jairam Ramesh, the communication department head of the Congress.
The ruling BJP is seemingly caught in knots in the raging ethnic violence in Manipur, with the chief minister, N. Biren Singh, reportedly defying the direction of the party to resign by scripting a protest led by Meitei women. The Kuki MLAs from the ranks of the BJP are also miffed at the leadership of the party for not sacking Singh yet.
The Balasore train mishap literally washed away the celebrations of the ninth anniversary of the Modi government after a pall of gloom descended in the country following the horrific three-train accidents, baring the record of the government on railway safety. It was later revealed afterwards that only nine per cent of the railway routes are covered with KAWACH, the anti-collision device of for the trains. There are still bodies lying in mortuaries which are not yet identified, casting aspersion on the functioning of the railways because the national transporter appears to be not knowing who all were travelling in the ill-fated trains – Coromondel Express and Howrah-Yashwantpur Express.
Modi has lobbed the ball of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to steer the national discourse to a futuristic legislation. The press has been hit with an avalanche of the commentaries on the UCC. The 21st Law Commission had concluded that there was no necessity for the UCC, but its successor has sought the opinions from the stakeholders, while Sushil Kumar Mod-head Parliament panel will begin hearing the issue from Monday.
For the BJP, the UCC is a force to create chinks in the Opposition unity plank, which will also face the test on account of the Delhi Ordinance, as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is making it a touchstone for the unity efforts in the non-BJP parties.
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