Opposition plan resolution in Rajya Sabha to send triple talaq bill to select committee

NEW DELHI: Opposition parties are banking on their combined strength in Rajya Sabha to send the Triple Talaq bill to a joint Select Committee, when it comes up for passing in the Upper House next week, on the ground that the legislation has not gone through the process of proper vetting by a committee, without going into the content of the Bill, it is learnt.

With the numbers in Rajya Sabha stacked in favour of the opposition rather than the government, the anti-BJP opposition parties had decided on Thursday, on demanding that the Triple Talaq bill be sent to a joint Select Committee. The passing of the resolution will be demanded by the opposition benches before the Bill is introduced in Rajya Sabha for passing.

On Friday, the united Opposition has decided to bring a joint resolution of parties including the AIADMK, which had opposed the Bill in Lok Sabha on Thursday. The plan is to finalize the resolution at a meeting of Opposition leaders scheduled for Monday morning. Going by the present calculations, the Opposition parties are expecting 116 members in the Upper House on their side and are also hopeful of another 13 AIADMK members supporting them to beat the treasury benches.

After a meeting in Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s chamber on Thursday morning, the Opposition parties kept to the same line of debate in Lok Sabha, by opposing the criminalization clause in the bill and sending it to a Select Committee for further vetting. Apart from Congress, floor leaders of Trinamool Congress, Left parties, DMK, RJD, TDP SP and BSP and other anti-BJP parties were present at the meeting.

The anti-BJP parties, also refused to attend a meeting with the leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley on Thursday to discuss an amendment to the Representation of the People’s Act, 1951, that had been listed for the same day. When it came for discussion at the business advisory committee meeting, soon after, opposition parties objected since procedure demanded that it be discussed at the BAC before being listed. The amendment proposes to allow non-resident Indians to cast their votes for elections held in the country.

Angry opposition leaders vehemently objected to the proposal at the BAC meeting on Thursday and refused to meet Jaitley for any discussion on it, when parliamentary affairs ministers Vijay Goel and Narendra Singh Tomar reached out to the opposition leaders for a meeting with Jaitley.

Lok Sabha has passed the amendment to the Representation of the People’s Act 1951, to empower NRIs to vote, earlier.

Thursday’s BAC of the Upper House, also decided that the Rights of Transgender Persons Bill (2014) and Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018, be sent to the Select Committees.