No consensus on RS Dy Chair face but ready to take on Modi Govt
The Opposition parties on Monday met and formulated a joint strategy to corner the Modi Government in the Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning on Wednesday. Among various issues, the Opposition parties are likely to focus on lynching, national security, women safety, Kashmir situation and others. However, parties could not arrive at a consensus candidate for the post of Deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.
The Congress had proposed to finalise a joint candidate for the Deputy chairperson’s post which fell vacant after the end of the term of PJ Kurien.
Sources said the Congress has agreed to a candidature of TMC’s Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, but the NCP want that the parties should back its candidate for the crucial post. With the left parties also not ready to endorse Sukhendu’s candidature, Opposition leaders decided to meet again to settle the issue.
With the Government showing no hurry in notifying the election to fill up the post of Deputy chairperson, the Opposition has still time on hand to build consensus.
Those present in the meeting were senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ahmed Patel, prominent Opposition leaders Sharad Pawar of NCP, Sukhendu Shekhar Roy (TMC), Satish Chandra Misra (BSP); Ram Gopal Yadav (SP); Misa Bharti (RJD); Elangovan (DMK), Mohd Salim (CPI-M); D Raja (CPI); D Kupendra Reddy(JD-S); NK Premchandran (RSP); Jose K Mani (KC-M) and Kunali Kutty (IUMl).
Even though the Opposition parties could not agree on the name of the candidate for Deputy chairperson post, it was clear that they were serious about taking on the Government united in Parliament Session. The meeting convened by Opposition leader in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad saw participation of representative of nearly all major Opposition parties.
Following the meeting, Azad said all parties want to see Parliament function and it is the NDA which stalled proceedings in the previous session. “It was a conventional meeting and 13 parties have decided that we want to see Parliament function. last time also, Opposition wanted both Houses to run. But, they didn’t let Parliament work and we were blamed instead,” Azad said.
Earlier in the day, Congress president Rahul Gandhi asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Monsoon Session.
The Congress chief offered his party’s unconditional support to the Bill and said the time has come for change, and for women to take their rightful place in State legislatures and Parliament.
In a letter to Modi, Rahul also urged the PM to ensure that the Bill gets passed during the Monsoon Session itself so that women can participate “more meaningfully” in the State elections later this year and in the lok Sabha polls next year.
“Prime Minister, in many of your public rallies you have spoken about your passion for empowering women and involving them more meaningfully in public life.
“What better way to demonstrate your commitment to the cause of women, than by offering your unconditional support to the passage of the Women’s Reservation BillIJ And what better time, than the upcoming session of ParliamentIJ Any further delay will make it impossible to implement before the next general elections,” Rahul wrote in his letter to Modi.
He said the Women’s Reservation Bill, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha on March 9, 2010, had been stalled in the lok Sabha on one pretext or the other for over eight years.
The Monsoon Session holds relevance for both the ruling and Opposition parties as the current lok Sabha has entered its final year and only three more sessions are left in the current Government. The Budget session had witnessed a complete whitewash and was the least productive since 2000, owing to immense sloganeering and disruption of proceedings in both Houses.