The Congress and the left managed to stall passage of the crucial Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill and the Coal Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, but Friday could be a different story.
Assured of support from the Samajwadi Party, the Trinamool Congress, the DMK, the BSP and the BJD, the Government is confident of passing the Bills in both Houses on Friday. The Congress and the left derailed the Government’s attempt to pass the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill in the RS on Thursday, claiming that procedures were not properly followed by the Select Committee that examined this Bill.
Sources in the Government claimed that they have the numbers for the passage of the pending Bills in the Rajya Sabha. Except for the Congress and the left, most other Opposition parties may vote in favour of the Treasury Benches on Friday enabling the Government to send back the Bills to the lS on the same day.
Arguing that mineral-bearing States had not been consulted, Congress members even stormed the Well of the House demanding that the Mines and Minerals Bill be sent again to the Select Committee.
There were three adjournments before Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien adjourned the House for the day. He said Zero Hour will be suspended to take up the Mines and Minerals Bill on Friday. The Coal Bill will come up for discussion and passing post the lunch-session.
After a series of deadlocks in the Upper House till late on Thursday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu indicated that if the proceedings were not completed then the Government may be forced to extend the Budget Session, which may cause inconvenience to members who may have prior engagements.
Soon after Minister for Mines Narendra Tomar introduced the Bill, CPI(M) member P Rajeev moved a motion seeking the Bill to be returned to the Select Committee for re-examination, while Congress member Digvijay Singh sought consultations with all stakeholders, including State Governments. Several members, including Rajeeve, Jaitley, Sitaram Yechury, Anand Sharma and KTS Tulsi, battled over the rules.
Desperate to get the Bill passed, the Government tried to reason with the Opposition, saying that once the Bill has gone through the scrutiny of the Select Committee it cannot be referred back.
While Finance Minister Arun Jaitley quoted rules and clauses in this regard, Naidu tried to reason that the Select Committee is like a “mini-House” and its decision has to be respected. He added that out of the 19-member panel, 14 have accepted the report. Hence, there was no point re-opening a closed chapter.
Earlier, while replying to the discussion on General Budget, Jaitley urged the Opposition not to obstruct and delay the reforms process and sought their cooperation in carrying out key reforms. Despite his plea, the Opposition created an uproar over introduction of the Bill, leading to repeated adjournments.
After three adjournments and some closed-door talks, the Opposition members finally relented to let the discussion take place on Friday morning by dispensing with Zero Hour. The House would again take up other Bills at 2.30 pm so that they could be returned to the lok Sabha.
“We can have a discussion on Friday morning, followed by Question Hour, as the Bill has to be cleared in this session. If this is not done then I will have to extend the session. I have to go back to the lok Sabha with this Bill passed here,” said Naidu. To this, leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and Yechury consented.