Farmers Movement Archive

Govt, Oppn begin preparation for Budget session

New Delhi: The government and the Opposition have kicked off their preparations for the upcoming Budget session of Parliament with internal meetings and a series of consultations, after the previous session ended amid acrimony over the suspension of 12 lawmakers and the passage of some bills without debate. Congress president Sonia Gandhi will chair a meeting of the party’s parliamentary strategy group on Friday to will decide the broad plans for the session, including key issues to be raised and the nature of floor coordination with other opposition parties and allies. On January 31, the day the session is slated to begin, Union parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi has called an all-party meeting where the government would lay out its legislative plan, the bills in wants to clear in this session, and seek the Opposition’s support. The Budget session, slotted in two halves between January 31 and April 8, assumes significance coming in the backdrop of the elections in five states -- Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. The political stakeholders of these polls, such as the BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Akali Dal, and Trinamool Congress, might see an opportunity in this session for manoeuvring with an eye on these polls. Parliament’s winter session started with massive protests and daily disruptions after the Upper House suspended 12 Opposition MPs for their conduct on the last day of the monsoon session, and when the government cleared the bill to repeal three contentious farm laws without debate. Lawmakers were later working overtime to partially salvage the lost hours, but both sides continue to blame each other for the disruptions even after the session was called to a close. For the Congress, the larger issues in this session are effective floor coordination with like-minded parties, and rasing raging issues such as price rise, while it also struggles with internal dissent and with key leaders leaving the organisation to join the BJP or other rival parties. The Congress will also take a call in the meeting on what its equation is going to be with the Trinamool Congress after their recent spat over Goa elections, where the Congress refused to enter into a pact over the TMC’s ostensible attempts to emerge as a national force by poaching leaders from the grand old party.The session will start with the President’s address to the joint sitting of both Houses, and the Union Budget will be presented on February 1. The government is expected to push the personal data privacy bill, mediation bill, amendments to the wildlife act, and amendments to the cost and chartered accountants bills, apart from the Budget and the Finance Bill. The government, according to an official, may also bring the much-awaited bill to regulate cryptocurrency in India. The national anti-doping bill and the biological diversity amendment bill may also be cleared during the session.On Thursday, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with party MPs for the budget session. A senior TMC leader said, “She told us to protest against the proposed changes in the IAS rule that gives upper hand to the Centre in the matters of central deputation from a state. We will also question the schedule of the session that coincides with the election in five states. The party will also raise issues related to our state.”

Hindustan Times

28-01-2022

India