The opposition wants to corner the government by demanding discussion on the Agnipath scheme, inflation, falling value of rupee against dollar, farmers’ problems, MSP, unemployment, among others, reports Santosh Kumar Pathak
The Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning Monday will be a memorable session for the government despite Opposition’s preparation to corner it.
On the first day of the session, the Presidential election will be held in which members of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will vote to elect a new President. The BJP, which has played a masterstroke by fielding tribal woman Draupadi Murmu as its Presidential candidate, is eyeing to win by a huge margin.
During the Monsoon Session, Vice-Presidential poll will be held on August 6. The BJP has fielded West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who hails from Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu, for the post. Seeing the numbers in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Dhankhar is almost certain to win the election.
However, despite strong prospects of NDA winning both the Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections, the opposition is making all out efforts to corner the government inside and outside the Parliament.
In the all-party meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla ahead of the Monsoon Session, the opposition parties made their stance clear by demanding discussion on several issues, including the Agnipath scheme, among others.
The way the opposition has reacted to Lok Sabha Secretariat’s circular banning demonstration inside the Parliament premises, it shows that it is ready to take on the government.
While Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, along with other opposition parties, wants to pressurise the government, his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee wants to lead the opposition parties as was seen in fielding Yashwant Sinha as the opposition’s Presidential nominee.
And in between these two regional parties is Congress, which is facing a crisis to maintain its national relevance. The impact of mutual competition among these three parties is also set to be seen during the Monsoon Session.
With the Trinamool Congress, SP, BSP, TRS, NCP, National Conference, AIMIM, Shiv Sena, among others, skipping the all-party meet, chances that the session will be a fiery one has increased.
The opposition wants to corner the government by demanding discussion on the Agnipath scheme, inflation, falling value of rupee against dollar, farmers’ problems, MSP, unemployment, India-China border situation, Nupur Sharma case, among others.
The Monsoon Session will conclude on August 12.
Govt to table weapons of mass destruction Bill
On the first day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament on Monday, the Centre is likely to table ‘The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Amendment Bill, 2022’ in the Rajya Sabha (RS).
The Upper House will also make obituary reference to the passing away of former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, legendary Santoor player Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and others.
The Opposition is likely to corner the government on issues like Agnipath (the new recruitment schemes for the armed forces), inflation, falling rupee and others.
The Bill will be tabled for consideration and passing. Union Minister for External Affairs Dr S. Jaishankar will move the Bill to amend the Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005, as passed by Lok Sabha.
The Rajya Sabha Secretary General will lay on the Table a statement showing the Bills passed by the Houses of Parliament during the 256th Session of the Rajya Sabha and assented to by the President.
The Rajya will also make obituary reference to the passing away of former Members Kishore Kumar Mohanty, Robert Kharshiing and K.K. Veerappan, President of the UAE and the Ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and third President of Kenya Mwai Kibaki.
Sinha, Nirahua, Mann to take oath as LS members
Four newly elected members of Lok Sabha will be taking oath on Tuesday, the first day of the Monsoon Session.
Simranjit Singh Mann (Sangrur Parliamentary Constituency, Punjab) Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi (Rampur Parliamentary Constituency, Uttar Pradesh); Dinesh Lal Yadav “Nirahua” (Azamgarh Parliamentary Constituency, Uttar Pradesh); and Shatrughan Prasad Sinha (Asansol Parliamentary Constituency, West Bengal) will take oath who have won in by-elections.
The House will also pay obituary to Shinzo Abe (Former Prime Minister of Japan), Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan (President of the United Arab Emirates and the Ruler of Abu Dhabi) and Mwai Kibaki third President of Kenya.
Two bills — The Family Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2022 will be moved by Law Minister Kiren Rijiju and The Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022 by Jitendra Singh.