New Delhi: With meetings called by the presiding officers of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha failing to end the impasse between the government and the opposition, there is uncertainty over whether the budget session will continue till the scheduled date of April 6.
Sources said the BJP leadership held a high-level meeting on Tuesday morning to initiate a discussion on the strategy to pass the budget in case the House is disrupted.
After the uproar, the proceedings of both the Houses were adjourned for the seventh consecutive day on Tuesday. The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill, 2023 was passed in the Lok Sabha amid the uproar.
Some MPs said the government may guillotine demands for grants and pass the Finance Bill without any discussion in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
At meetings organized by Speaker Om Birla for the Lok Sabha and Jagdeep Dhankhar, the Vice President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha for the Upper House, the BJP said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi may be allowed to speak about his remarks on Indian nationals. There was democracy in London only when he was ready to apologize on the same. But the Congress rejected it outright, insisting on its demand for setting up a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the Adani case.
BJP sources said the budget session could not continue “without any business and complete deadlock”. But the government will have to find a way to meet the passage of the budget, which also includes the passage of the Finance Bill.
With Parliament closed on Wednesday on account of festivals like Gudi Padwa and Ugadi, the government has two days left in case it decides to curtail the session.
According to sources, in a meeting called by him to resolve the issue, Birla urged the MPs to resolve the impasse and said he wanted to run the House. The government then offered that Rahul could speak in the House provided he gave an assurance that he would apologize for his “anti-India remarks”. Leader of the Congress in the House Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury categorically rejected this, and reiterated the opposition’s demand for a JPC probe into the Adani issue.
To resolve the impasse, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar held two meetings with the floor leaders of the parties. While the first meeting was attended by BJP, YSRCP, BJD and TDP leaders, the subsequent meeting was attended by leaders of the NCP, BRS, DMK, TMC, BJD, Tamil Maanila Congress and AGP, besides representatives of the BJP. Dhankhar told the MPs that the House is meant for debate and discussion in a cooperative manner and not for confrontation and deadlock.
Before the first meeting, Congress and DMK leaders met Dhankhar and expressed their inability to attend. According to an official note, the Chairman indicated that this would not help democracy.
The ruling party accused the opposition of deliberately stalling the parliament. Union minister and Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal, joined by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, said the opposition with its “irresponsible” comments and “baseless” allegations is at a standstill amid the “global recognition of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership”. misleading the country. ,
The ministers accused the opposition of not being ready to even attend meetings called by the presiding officers to resolve the impasse. The opposition denied this.
On Tuesday morning, the BJP reportedly called for not disrupting the Question Hour if the opposition remained in their seats and asked for a discussion. A senior BJP MP said, “We were told not to rise or raise slogans if the opposition does not come to the Well of the House.”
However, as soon as the Lok Sabha met, Congress and DMK MPs barged into the Well demanding a JPC probe into the Adani Group controversy.
The Congress and 16 opposition parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party, but excluding the Trinamool Congress, walked up to the first floor of Parliament House, and unfurled a banner demanding a JPC probe through the corridors – in a unique protest – carrying placards and placards They are raising slogans.
Meanwhile, the BJP stepped up its attack on Rahul outside Parliament, with party spokesperson Sambit Patra dubbing the Congress leader as “the present Mir Jafar of Indian politics”. He insulted the country and asked a foreign power to intervene in the country, Patra said at a press conference. “What he has done in London is what Mir Jafar has done… Shahzada wants to be a Nawab. The prince has sought help from the East India Company to become the Nawab.
The BJP MP quoted above said he sees little sign of success from the party. The MP said, ‘Now we cannot back down from our demand for an apology from Rahul.’
