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| Opposition gearing up to put Govt on the mat during Budget Session | | |
ABID SHAH
NEW DELHI, FEB 20: The Budget Session of Parliament, beginning from tomorrow (Monday) has come at a time when Opposition has been gearing up to take cudgels against Government on a host of issues.
Some of these are, indeed, going to be directly related to Jammu and Kashmir where the United Progressive Alliance Government led by Congress at the Centre shares power with the main ruling party or National Conference.
In an all-party meeting called by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar here today both the Bharatiya Janata Party and Left demanded a discussion on price rise on February 23, or immediately after President Pratibha Patil’s address that would set the proceedings of the Budget Session rolling.
The Communist Party of India Member Gurudas Dasgupta went a step ahead saying in case the demand for a discussion on price rise was not met the Opposition would bring an adjournment motion to force a discussion on the issue.
Besides price rise, the MPs would find the top Government brass to confront in the House two days ahead of the visit of the Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir to New Delhi for talks with his Indian counterpart Nirupama Rao at India’s invitation.
And since both India and Pakistan have been trying to set their own agenda for these talks, the Opposition, mainly the BJP, would try to put the Government in the spot on agreeing to talk to Pakistan, ignoring the strong sentiments throughout the country shared by the media and the people against Islamabad’s continuing support to terror groups who have been out to strike against India at the slightest opportunity.
Not only this the drastic difference in Kashmir policy of the ruling UPA and opposition BJP may well lead to showdown on issues like autonomy recommended by a Prime Minister’s Working Group led by Justice Saghir Ahmad and Home Ministry’s move to grant amnesty to Kashmiri youth who had crossed borders amid the heat of insurgency and now wanted to be back to join their families and also the mainstream.
Several BJP leaders have been expressing their discomfort over these issues besides threatening to raise them in Parliament during the Budget Session which would see the presentation of Railway Budget on February 24 and General Budget for 2010-11 on February 26 and would continue until May 7 with a few weeks’ recess in between.
Besides this, the Government policy on climate change, WTO, Telangana movement in the South, continuing suicides by debt-ridden farmers in parts of the country and teen age students in Maharashtra due to academic burden, the issue of girl child or female infanticide may too vie for attention of Paliament.
Given the widespread consternation against price rise the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee may find it hard to slap new taxes on essentials. The BJP has threatened to cast a siege of Parliament on April 21 or towards the middle of the Budget Session on the issue of price rise. This is since by then not only the Budget proposals would become known but also the party would be able to tell their effect. This is going to be more so if they turn out to be harsh against cash strapped middle class or lower middle class.
After today’s all-party meeting called by Speaker, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his part expressed his readiness to discuss all issues brought before Parliament. He also said that his Government was ready to face Opposition and its fears regarding Foreign Secretaries level talks that both India and Pakistan had agreed to have.
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