The bitterness of the Gujarat poll campaign is expected to spill over into the Winter Session of Parliament beginning on Friday. Congress leaders in the all-party meeting on Thursday raised the issue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim during a speech in Gujarat that former PM Manmohan Singh colluded with Pakistan to influence the State polls. The Prime
Minister sought the Opposition’s cooperation for a constructive Session.
The exit polls and likely victory for the BJP in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh could also make up for some interesting exchanges and jibes between the ruling party and the Opposition. The performance of Rahul Gandhi, who will take over as Congress president on Saturday, will also be keenly watched in the Lok Sabha.
Speaking at a meeting on the Session’s eve, Modi again pitched for simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies saying that holding elections once in five years will boost development.
The Prime Minister appealed to leaders of all political parties to help build a consensus on the matter.
Modi has been pushing for simultaneous polls, saying an almost uninterrupted cycle of polls across the country hampers Government works due to enforcement of model code of conduct and deployment of officials in elections.
“He also sought their cooperation to make the Session meaningful and constructive,” said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar, who briefed the newspersons after the meeting.
Congress leaders raised the issue of Modi’s allegations during a speech in Gujarat that Singh colluded with Pakistan to influence the Gujarat Assembly polls, and said they will raise it in Parliament.
“We will raise the issue in Parliament. Either the Government prove the claim or the Prime Minister apologise. Nothing short of an apology will satisfy us,” Congress leader Anand Sharma said.
The Winter Session is expected to be a stormy one as it is expected to be impacted by the shadows of the bitterly fought poll in Gujarat, results for which along with that of Himachal Pradesh will be out on Monday. The poll results will have a serious bearing on the Session.
The Government is expected to table 25 pending Bills and 14 new ones, including a Bill providing Muslim women the right to seek maintenance in case of triple talaq, during the Session.
Delayed by almost a month due to the polls, this Session will have fewer sittings than the usual-it has 14 work days compared to 21 in the last Winter Session-but the Government is hopeful of pushing its legislative agenda in the short time.
The Modi-Government looks forward opposition’s cooperation to pass key pending Bills like Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2016, and the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) 123, Amendment Bill.
The Opposition is set to raise the issue of Rafale deal purchase and the State of economy, particularly the implementation o f GST.
The first day is likely to see no transaction of business at least in the Lok Sabha which is likely to adjourn till Monday after paying tributes to sitting members who passed away in the inter-Session period.
After the weekend break, the two Houses will meet again on Monday when the poll results will be announced.
Agriculture distress, GST rollout and alleged misuse of enforcement agencies are some of the other issues the Opposition will rake up to attack the Government.
Earlier in the day, the Congress and a number of Opposition parties also met separately to formulate a joint strategy to corner the Government on key issues during the Winter Session of Parliament .
Leaders of a large number of Opposition parties, including the Congress, NCP, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Samajwadi Party (SP), RJD, J&K National Conference and the Left parties met in the chamber of the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and discussed key issues to be raised in Parliament.
Prominent among those who attended include NCP leader Tariq Anwar, TMC leader Derek O’Brien, NC’s Farooq Abdullah, SP’s Naresh Agrawal, RJD’s Jaiprakash Narain Yadav, and CPI’s D Raja.