Budget Session begins today: Oppn seeks discussion on Adani, BBC film row; Govt says ready for all

The parties also sought a discussion on passage of the women’s reservation Bill, “threat to cooperative federalism”, unemployment situation and price rise.

The Congress did not attend the meeting as its leaders were in Srinagar for the concluding event of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Besides Singh, the government side was represented by Parliament Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal, and Ministers of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal and V Muraleedharan. Joshi said 37 leaders from 27 parties were present at the meeting.

The Trinamool Congress, the second-largest Opposition party in Parliament after the Congress, did not join others in demanding a discussion on the Adani row.

The parties which wanted this taken up included the DMK, represented by T R Baalu, the Aam Aadmi Party (Sanjay Singh), the RJD (Manoj Kumar Jha), the CPM (Elamaram Kareem) and the CPI (P Sandosh Kumar).

Jha questioned Adani using India’s name and flag, while challenging the report on its practices by the US investor firm Hindenburg Research.

The CPI(M) central committee, which met in Kolkata, demanded a high-level inquiry monitored on a day-to-day basis by the Supreme Court into the allegations. The CPI(M) said it will coordinate with other parties to raise the issue in Parliament.

At a meeting of his party MPs Sunday, DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin asked them to raise issues like the Adani row, apart from the controversy over the curbs on the BBC documentary, and “attempts made by the BJP to change the basic characteristics of the Constitution which could be seen from unnecessary comments made by certain sections, including the Vice-President of India (Jagdeep Dhankhar questioned the Supreme Court order on the basic structure of the Constitution)”.

The TMC’s Sudip Bandyopadhyay sought a discussion on “the threat to cooperative federalism”. “The Government of India is trying to create an economic blockade of West Bengal. That is a dangerous trend. We said the Finance Ministry should release the funds for West Bengal for the 100 days’ jobs scheme (MGNREGS),” he said.

Bandyopadhyay said the TMC also demanded a discussion on the unemployment situation, passage of the women’s reservation Bill, and price rise, especially of fuel. “I told the government that the floor of Parliament should not be used only for passing Bills. The floor should be given to the Opposition also. The saying is that the House belongs to the Opposition, but little of that is reflected in this House,” he said.

Asked about the party’s stand on the BBC documentary, which spoke about the Modi-led Gujarat government’s handling of the 2002 riots, the TMC leader said that many present said that the curbs on it should be discussed.

The demand for a discussion on passage of the women’s quota Bill, setting aside 33% of the seats for them in Parliament and Assemblies, was also supported by the BRS and BJD.

Like Bandyopadhyay, RJD MP Jha said at the meeting that Parliament cannot be reduced to just a body giving approval to government legislation. It should discuss substantial issues of concern to the country, he said.

He also said it was wrong for Adani to conflate the charges against his companies with an attack on India. “No industrialist can equate himself with India. India and the Indian flag are not meant to cover serious allegations against him and his firm,” Jha told The Indian Express. On the BBC film row, he said many parties had sought a discussion on it.

“Hindenburg posed 88 questions to Adani Group which responded with a 413 page rant. Why hide behind ‘an attack on me is an attack on India’ nonsense? It isn’t! Meanwhile, LIC & SBI continue to get pressured to bail the Group companies out & SEBI/RBI maintain an eloquent silence,” Congress communication department head Jairam Ramesh said in a Twitter post.

The Congress has demanded a serious investigation into the charges made by Hindenburg Research.

Both the RJD’s Jha and the YSRCP’s V Vijayasai Reddy sought a caste census. Reddy said backward castes were over 50 per cent of the total population and a caste-based census would help find their economic status.

Apart from the TMC, several parties demanded a discussion on unemployment, with Jha seeking a blueprint, calling the situation very worrisome.

Briefing the media after the meeting, Union minister Pralhad Joshi said the government was willing to hold a discussion on all subjects as per the rules. “I urge all political parties to extend their cooperation in the smooth functioning of the Houses,” he said.

Although the Opposition has in previous Sessions sought clarification on the India-China border situation, and hinted that it could again demand the same, the government has repeatedly said that matters concerning security cannot be discussed in the House.

There are several key pending Bills that the government hopes to get cleared in this Session. These include the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill; Maintenance &Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizen (Amendment) Bill; Competition (Amendment) Bill; Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill; Electricity (Amendment) Bill; Multi State Cooperative Socieities (Amendment) Bill; and Jan Vishawas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill. Apart from these, 17 Bills are pending before the Rajya Sabha.

The government has not clarified which of these pending legislation it intends to take up during the Budget Session.

The proceedings will begin Tuesday with President Droupadi Murmu’s address to the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on February 1. The session will have 27 sittings and will continue till April 6 with a month-long recess to examine the Budget papers.

The first part of the Budget Session will conclude on February 13. Parliament will reconvene on March 13 for the second part of the Budget Session.