Meeting Of Opposites To Chalk Out Strategy For Monsoon Session

Opposition party leaders met on Monday at the Parliament library in New Delhi to discuss their strategy ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament and to agree a consensus candidate for the post of deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.

“All 13 opposition parties have decided that we want to see the Parliament function. Last time also, the opposition wanted both Houses to run. However, they (the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party members) did not let Parliament work and we were blamed instead,” leader of the opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters.

The meeting, which was attended by leaders of several opposition parties, including the Congress party, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Trinamool Congress (TMC), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM, Communist Party of India (CPI), and Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S), comes a day ahead of an all-party meeting called by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to seek the support of all political parties in ensuring the smooth functioning of the session and passage of various bills.

The meeting of the opposition parties was held with the aim of trying to retain the post of deputy chairperson of the Upper House, which fell vacant after the term of deputy chairman P.J. Kurien ended on 1 July. However, they are likely to face stiff opposition from the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is expected to make a strong bid to get its candidate elected. The silver lining for the opposition is that though the BJP is the single-largest party in the Upper House, the NDA is still in a minority.

Meanwhile, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to ensure the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the monsoon session. Gandhi offered his party’s unconditional support to the bill and said the time has come for women to take their rightful place in state legislatures and Parliament.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu has sought the support of non-BJP, non-Congress parties for the no-confidence motion his party seeks to move in Parliament against the central government over non-fulfilment of a promise to grant special status to the state.

There are 68 bills pending in Parliament, of which 25 are listed for consideration and passage in this session and three for withdrawal, according to PRS Legislative Research.

There are 18 new bills also listed for introduction, consideration and passage.

The key bills listed for introduction include The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2018, The Criminal Law Amendment Bill, 2018, The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018, The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2018, and The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2018.

Pending bills include the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018, The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 and the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016.