House stand-off worsens as opposition tries to censure govt

NEW DELHI: The stand-off between the Modi government and the opposition escalated on Wednesday with the anti-BJP camp insisting that Lok Sabha proceedings be adjourned to discuss the Nirav Modi-PNB scam.
Proposing it as a solution to the logjam which nixed proceedings in the two Houses for the third straight day, the opposition told the government that it would have to agree to an "adjournment motion" on the PNB scam.

While the entire opposition stood together, Biju Janata Dal, which has been seen as friendly with the government, also echoed the same sentiment. The opposition accused the government of seeking to dilute the wordings of a motion on the PNB scam from the agreed "alleged scams in the banking system" to a more loose formulation. This led the opposition to seek an adjournment motion rather than a discussion under Rule 193 which is a less urgent measure.

The common position appeared to have evolved from consultations. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, BJD’s Bhartruhari Mahtab, RSP’s NK Premachandran and Trinamool Congress’s Kalyan Banerjee and Saugata Roy were seen engaged in discussions after LS adjourned on Wednesday.

Parliamemt also remains disrupted due to the TDP demand for financial support for Andhra Pradesh, TRS’s competing demands for Telangana, AIADMK’s call for the constitution of a board following the verdict of the SC on Cauvery waters and Shiv Sena’s demand for classical language status for Marathi.

The opposition is miffed that while it had agreed to a simple debate under Rule 193, the government "chose to dilute the focus" of the discussion by widening its ambit to banking scams "over the years". Leaders across party-lines alleged that the "rephrasing of the subject of discussion" was designed to bail out the government in the wake of PNB scam and the flight of high-profile defaulters like Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Vijay Mallya and Jatin Mehta.