The ongoing Budget Session of Parliament is likely to witness another chaotic day on Monday as the Opposition parties in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have scheduled a crucial strategy meeting on Monday before the House resumes functioning. The first two days of the Budget Session last week were a complete washout as they commenced in the backdrop of an expose on the Adani Group by the US-based Hindenburg Research. The Leaders of Opposition of both Houses will hold a protest in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex.
Due to the solidarity of the Opposition parties on this particular matter, the discussion on the ‘Motion of Thanks’ on the President’s Address has not started as yet in the first part of the Budget Session of Parliament which is scheduled to end on February 13.
With the Opposition being adamant on demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Hindenburg report and the Adani Group, no business took place due to the ruckus in both the Houses in the first week of the Budget Session.
According to parliamentary convention, the discussion on the ‘Motion of Thanks’ should have started on February 2, the day after the Union Budget’s presentation, but it could not happen due to the Opposition’s uproar.
The Opposition parties have demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe or a Supreme Court-monitored committee investigation into the Adani issue while also seeking a discussion on it in Parliament.
Sources said leaders and representatives of 16 Opposition parties have confirmed their presence for the meeting that is likely to be conducted in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in RÃ jya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. A similar meeting was held last Friday in the same chamber where the Opposition framed its collective strategy to step up the attack on the Modi Government over a range of issues, particularly the Adani and China crisis.
The 16 parties include the Congress, DMK, SP, AAP, BRS, Shiv Sena, RJD, JDU, CPIM, CPI, NCP, NC, IUML, Kerala Congress (Jose Mani), KC (Thomas), and the RSP.
In the backdrop of the clamour for Opposition unity to take on the Modi juggernaut in next year’s Lok Sabha elections, this is the first time that majority of the parties have come together under an umbrella to corner the BJP-led Government.
While Kharge made the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation or a Supreme Court-monitored probe, a section of the leaders also favoured an inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Shiv Sena (UT) leader and Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi told The Pioneer that so far the Opposition bench have unitedly led the charge against the Centre over the issue and if the Modi government does not budge from its rigidity and keep on ignoring the Opposition democratic demands then the agitation shall continue for the remaining part of the budget session.
"Most of the MPs in the upper house have given adjustments notices. And it is not correct to say that Opposition did not allow to function the Parliament rather It was the government that adjourned without even hearing us," Chaturvedi said. On Friday, leaders of several opposition parties continued to submit adjournment notices in both houses of Parliament demanding an immediate discussion on the Adani Group issue as well as the border situation with China.
Congress MP in Lok Sabha Manish Tewari said, "SEBI has increased the margin money on Adani derivatives to 100%. The normal market rule is 10%- 15%. This collusion between regulator & a particular industrial group raises questions about institutional integrity of the regulator & that's why a JPC is important," Tewari said.
Earlier TMC MP Mahua Moitra also questioned SEBI officer's links to billionaire Gautam Adani's family as she tweeted: "Greatest respect for ace lawyer Cyril Shroff but his daughter is married to Gautam Adani's son.