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Stage set for stormy monsoon session

Last Updated 16 July 2017, 14:58 IST
Stage is set for a stormy monsoon session of Parliament beginning Monday as opposition geared up to to corner the Modi government on a range of issues from the border stand off with China to the agrarian distress and the situation in Jammu and Kashmir to increasing incidents of cow vigilantism.

Spread over 26 days, the monsoon session will have 19 sittings and the government has lined up heavy legislative agenda. It plans to introduce 16 new Bills, push for passage of 18 pending draft legislation and seek approval of Parliament for the supplementary demand for grants.

At the all party meeting convened by the government on Sunday, opposition leaders said they want to raise issues such as the border stand-off with China, the situaion in J&K, increasing incidents of cow vigilantism and the “imperfect” implementation of the Goods and Services Tax.

Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad accused the Modi government of “closing all doors for dialogue” to resolve the Kashmir that has led to “political suffocation” of the region.

In a bid to take the sting out of the opposition attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned incidents of cow vigilantism and asked state governments to take stern action against anti-social elements trying to spread anarchy in the name of cow protection.

CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said the session beginning Monday was probably the shortest Monsoon Session in India's Parliamentary history.

“This is impossible, unless the government plans to pass all these bills and grants in the din minus any discussion. This is disastrous for our democracy,” Yechury told reporters here referring to the heavy legislative agenda.

Yechury also made a strong pitch for taking up the Women's Reservation Bill, that seeks to grant 33% quotas for women in Parliament and state legislatures, and a legislation that would grant farmers the right to sell their produce at minimum support price.

“The Prime Minister had promised that it (Women's Reservation Bill) will be taken up in case of majority support. Three majority years have passed, why is it not being done,” Yechury asked.

The opposition is also expected to push for a discussion on the government's “failure” to create jobs and spur private investment in the country.

The BJP on the other hand was planning to hit back at the opposition on the then UPA government's reported attempts to secure the arrest of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in cases of “saffron terror”.

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(Published 16 July 2017, 14:57 IST)

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