Govt.
not serious about
Budget session: Opposition
Little time for issues with only four working days in first phase: Cong., Trinamool
Sobhana K Nair
New Delhi
At the all-party meeting held
on Sunday evening, Opposi-
tion parties hit out at the go-
vernment for a short session
of Parliament, with both the
Congress and the Trinamool
Congress pointing out that
there are only four working
days in this session.
“Effectively there are just
four working days in this ses-
sion and there are so many
issues — there is a crisis in
the judiciary, the implemen-
tation of the GST, farmers’
distress and so on — where is
the time to discuss all of it,”
Leader of the Congress in
the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun
Kharge told The Hindu.
Trinamool Congress MP
Derek O’Brien also backed
Mr. Kharge. “Number of ‘full’
working days in first phase of
Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Ghulam Nabi Azad
with Ananth Kumar and PM Modi on Sunday. R.V. MOORTHY
Budget Session Feb 5, 6, 7, 8.
Just four days. This Govt
cares two hoots about Parlia-
ment,” he tweeted after the
meeting.
The Opposition parties al-
so raised the issue of the Ja-
nuary 12 press conference by
four senior-most judges of
the Supreme Court alleging
selective allotment of cases
to preferred Benches. All
* persuade and request all
through the discussion,
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, who arrived late, and
other senior Ministers, in-
cluding Home Minister Raj-
nath Singh and Finance Mi-
nister Arun Jaitley, remained
silent.
The Congress is still to
take a stand on support to an
impeachment motion
against Chief Justice of India
Dipak Mishra, suggested last
week by CPI(M) general se-
cretary Sitaram Yechury.
Sources said the Triple Ta-
laq Bill, which virtually
stalled the Rajya Sabha in the
last session, was not dis-
cussed at the meeting. The
government has, however,
indicated it will make a fresh
push for its passage. “We will
leave no stone unturned and
parties so that the Bill is
passed in the Rajya Sabha,”
Parliamentary Affairs Minis-
ter Ananth Kumar said after
the meeting.
Many parties also raised
the law introduced by the Sri
Lankan government impos-
ing heavy penalties on fish-
ermen straying into its wa-
ters.
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