The black money issue has once again come back to haunt the Parliament. This time it is the NDA Government’s turn to face the heat as the Opposition parties have threatened to disrupt Parliament functioning over the matter.
The Trinamool Congress and the Janata Dal (United) have given a notice for the suspension of the Question Hour in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday to discuss the black money issue.
The Opposition has decided to put up a united front in Parliament to corner the Government. It has even threatened to block key legislations including the Insurance Bill in the Upper House where the government would struggle for numbers.
“Black money was one of the key poll issues in the lok Sabha elections on which BJP has won. But the Government has done nothing on this account ever since it came to power. We want a detailed discussion on this,” said JD (U) leader KC Tyagi.
The political parties have rejected Government’s argument of `confidentiality clause’ in naming the persons holding illicit bank accounts abroad. They claim even the list submitted by the Government in Supreme Court does not have anything substantial to support BJP’s election campaign claims.
For TMC, its MP Sudip Bandopadhyay was more categorical saying unless they get satisfactory reply on the black money issue, they would not allow Parliament to function. In fact, even after the Sunday’s all-party meeting, TMC said this session will witness a lot of chaos. Already TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has declared that she would “politically retaliate” against her party being dragged into the Saradha Scam. And one possible way of retaliation is surely troubling the government in passage of bills. Mamata had on Saturday announced her party would not allow the passage of Insurance Bill.
However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu tried to downplay the Opposition move saying he hoped that the parties would understand the mood of the nation.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sought the support of political parties for smooth functioning of the Winter Session saying “all MPs have a responsibility to run the country” and hoped that the “Opposition would continue to play a constructive role.”