Government heaved a sigh of relief on Monday with the BJP promising not to obstruct the passage of Finance Bills in Parliament.
The Opposition party, however, signalled no scale down from its demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and law Minister Ashwani Kumar, who are embroiled in a controversy for vetting CBI’s affidavit in coalgate scam.
The decision to allow passage of Finance Bills and Railway Budget was taken in an all party meeting called by lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar. The process was set in motion last night when Government reached out to leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, who suggested the treasury benches to take all Opposition parties into confidence.
As per the rules, Government has to get all money Bills related to the Union Budget passed within 75 days of the presentation of the Budget. Since the four Bills will have to go the Rajya Sabha and then to the President for his assent, it is crucial for the Government to get lok Sabha’s approval by April 30 to meet the deadline. The on-going Budget session gets over on May 10.
“Before the debate on these Bills start, Swaraj will speak in the house about reasons for her party’s on-going protests in both Houses on the JPC draft report on 2G spectrum and the reported vetting of the CBI report on coal mines allocation by the law Minister,” BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said.
Though Javadekar remain tight-lipped about BJP’s floor strategy for Tuesday, sources indicated the party could stage a walkout of the lok Sabha after Swaraj’s speech to register its protest.
“BJP is a responsible Opposition and if these Bills are not passed, there will be a Constitutional crisis. After their passage, our agitation will continue. We are against this Government but will allow Finance Bills to go through to protect democracy,” Javadekar said.