Ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, expected to be a stormy affair, BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday discussed with senior Union Ministers ways to counter the Opposition strategy and met Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, whose name has figured in the lalit Modi scandal.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, under attack in the Vyapam scam, met Shah late on Sunday. He is also likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain his stand. Raje is understood to have already done the same. It is obvious that the Government is preparing itself to counter the possible Opposition onslaught against the duo. The Government has already made it clear that there would be “no resignations”.
Shah met senior Union Ministers to fine-tune “the responses” against the Opposition's charge of corruption and “conflict of interests” against some of BJP leaders.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Information & Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, HRD Minister Smiriti Irani and Power Minister Piyush Goyal were among those who met the BJP president. BJP spokespersons and Raje were also present during the meeting.
After the discussions, Shah, along with Jaitley and other senior leaders like Rajnath Singh and Venkaiah Naidu, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to finalise Government and party's offensive in Parliament.
Facing a geared up Opposition on account of the controversies surrounding former IPl chief lalit Modi and his alleged links with Raje and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the ramification of the Vyapam scam, the ruling party and the Government are holding detailed consultations to strategise the moves on the floors of two Houses.
The Prime Minister will take the stock of the situation a day before the beginning of the four-week Monsoon Session, in a meeting of National Democratic alliance (NDA) allies on Monday at his residence. Before meeting the allies, the Prime Minister may also attend two separate all-party meetings called by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu and lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to discuss ways to ensure a smooth Session.
The Government has finalised 35 items of business for the Monsoon Session, which included nine Bills pending in the Rajya Sabha and four pending in the lok Sabha, besides introduction of 11 new Bills and “expects constructive cooperation” from the Opposition, according to Government sources.
This may be the first Parliament Session since Modi came to power last year that the Opposition would have an opportunity to corner the BJP Government over the controversies surrounding some of its top leaders in power. According to sources, the party and the Government have decided to “firmly back” its leaders caught in controversies saying “no wrong done”.
Congress and several other Opposition parties are seemingly closing ranks to push hard the Government on a range of issues, including Vyapam scam and lalit Modi controversy.
Besides pressing for removal of Raje, Chouhan, Swaraj and Irani --- embroiled in court case over her “uncertain” educational qualifications --- Opposition parties have indicated that they would raise the issue of alleged rice scam in Public Distribution System in Chhattisgarh and seek ouster of Chief Minister Raman Singh.
To silence the Opposition attack, the BJP, on its part, is likely to point its guns on Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh of the Congress, who is involved in a disproportionate assets case. On the Vyapam scam, the party and the Government would point out that the CBI was already probing the scandal.
According to a PTI report, the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister may meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Vyapam scam issue. However, so far there is no official confirmation whether Chouhan will meet the PM.
Chouhan recently had a detailed discussion with the BJP president during the latter's Bhopal visit after the scam probe case was handed over to CBI.
Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh in a tweet on Sunday asked if Modi and Shah would seek the MP CM's resignation. “Amit Shah summons Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj. Would he, Modi and RSS have guts to ask for their resignationIJ” Digvijay tweeted.
Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia has already said that the Vyapam scam will be raised during the Monsoon Session and accused the Madhya Pradesh Government of “inaction” in probing the massive scandal, which allegedly has claimed the lives of many accused and witnesses.