MPs Pad up to Ensure Fruitful Budget Session
JNU row, Jat stir make leaders call for more discussion, less disruption
Members of Parliament are padding up to ensure a fruitful Budget session even as the controversy over the arrest of a Jawaharlal Nehru University student continues to polarise public opinion.
The national mood could not be more ominous before a Parliament session.
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Since the arrest of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar on February 12 on charges of sedition, there has been a public debate on "nationalism". In the run-up to the 31-day session, protests are planned all over the national capital, by supporters of both sides of the debate.
The Jat stir demanding Other Backward Classes reservation was another dark cloud on the coming session, but the Haryana and the central governments were already trying to resolve the problem.
The national mood could not be more ominous before a Parliament session.
Read our full coverage on Union Budget 2016
Since the arrest of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union President Kanhaiya Kumar on February 12 on charges of sedition, there has been a public debate on "nationalism". In the run-up to the 31-day session, protests are planned all over the national capital, by supporters of both sides of the debate.
The Jat stir demanding Other Backward Classes reservation was another dark cloud on the coming session, but the Haryana and the central governments were already trying to resolve the problem.
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Aware of these challenges and the total washout of the previous two sessions in the face of continuous disruptions by the Opposition, senior politicians now seem to be doing what they can to prevent parliamentary democracy in the country from sliding into irrelevance.
At a meeting on Saturday, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Hamid Ansari implored senior leaders of political parties to ensure "more discussions and fewer disruptions".
"The time has come to assure the public that parliamentary democracy works and is sensitive to the needs of its citizen," he said.
Leaders agreed that important legislations such as the Goods and Services Tax Constitution (Amendment) Bill will be taken up in the second half of the Budget session.
The government, on its part, agreed to have discussions on the Pathankot terrorist attack, the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula and the JNU crisis in the first few days of the session.
In a minority in the Rajya Sabha, the government has found the Opposition not hesitant to block its Bills in the Upper House. It has, consequently, said it could take recourse to executive action, bypassing the legislature.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu will also be meeting leaders of political parties on the eve of the session on Monday.
Congress, the main Opposition party, has called a meeting of its working committee to decide its strategy for the session.
The Lok Sabha could follow the lead of the Upper House by holding discussions on contentious issues before it takes up the Railway Budget on February 25, the Economic Survey on February 26 and the general Budget on February 29.
On February 23, the two Houses will have a joint sitting for the customary presidential address. The tenor of the session, sources said, would depend on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention on a discussion on the JNU row and the Rohith Vemula issue on February 24.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government is preparing to forcefully raise the issue of anti-nationalism including the testimony of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused David Coleman Headley regarding alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Ishrat Jahan.
Modi, however, indicated on Sunday that his government was unlikely to bend if the Opposition were to toughen their stand and not let Parliament function.
At a public rally in Odisha, Modi said: "Conspiracies are being hatched to destabilise and defame the government as it is asking NGOs (non-governmental organisations) to give an account of foreign funds."
The violence in Haryana, where Jats, cutting across political affiliations, have come together to demand reservations, could be an opportunity for the two leading parties to bury the hatchet. A solution to the problem is unlikely in the short term, given that any ordinance, either by the Haryana government or the Centre, assuring reservations to the community is most likely to be struck down in the courts in the absence of a comprehensive survey to establish that the community is backward.
Several key Bills - GST, bankruptcy and real estate - will be taken up by the Rajya Sabha in the second half of the session. Sixteen Bills are pending in the two Houses.
The first half of the session is from February 23 to March 16, followed by over a month long recess. The second half begins on April 25 and ends on May 13.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Some of the key laws pending in Parliament:
UPPER HOUSE HURDLE
Bills passed by Lok Sabha but pending in Rajya Sabha
- Constitution (122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill, 2014
- Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015
- Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015
- Industries (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015
- High Court and the Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill, 2015
WAITING GAME
Bills referred to committees but awaiting reports:
- Consumer Protection Bill, 2015
- Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2015
- Benami Transactions (Prohibition) (Amendment) Bill, 2015
- Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Second Amendment) Bill, 2015
- Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013
STILL WAITING
Pending though reports on it have been submitted:
- Real Estate (Regulation and Development) BilI, 2013
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