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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Monsoon session of Parliament continues to be a washout
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Monsoon session of Parliament continues to be a washout

While Rajya Sabha failed to transact any business for the second day in a row due to the uproar, Lok Sabha was paralysed on its first working day

The Congress-led Opposition moved an adjournment motion demanding a discussion on the scandal surrounding former IPL chief Lalit Modi and the controversial Vyapam scam. Photo: HTPremium
The Congress-led Opposition moved an adjournment motion demanding a discussion on the scandal surrounding former IPL chief Lalit Modi and the controversial Vyapam scam. Photo: HT

The second day of the monsoon session of Parliament was once again a washout with the Opposition aggressively pressing for resignations of key members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While the Rajya Sabha failed to transact any business for the second day in a row due to the uproar, Lok Sabha was paralysed on its first working day. Both Houses were adjourned for the day just minutes past 2pm.

The Congress-led Opposition moved an adjournment motion demanding a discussion on the scandal surrounding former Indian Premier League (IPL) chief Lalit Modi and the controversial Vyapam scam. Yet, disruptions continued even as the government expressed readiness for discussing the same. More

Both the treasury and opposition benches appear to have gone into huddles to put up a united front in the House. If the government had decided to counter the rival’s attack by bringing up state issues to weaken them, the Times of India reports the Opposition plans to hold on to its unity at any cost and have been in constant touch with each other.

On the issue of corruption, for instance, the Congress, CPI, CPM, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, JD (U), RJD, AAP, DMK and some others have decided to keep the heat on the government. According to a newspaper report, the plan is that if the government tries to pin down a party on a state-related issue, all opposition parties will get together to counter the attack.

Meanwhile, the BJP has instructed MPs to take on the Opposition “in Parliament and on the streets." It was external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, whose resignation the Opposition is demanding for her alleged involvement in the Lalit Modi scandal, who was the first off the block with a tweet stating that a senior Congress leader had pressed her to give a diplomatic passport to former minister Santosh Bagrodia, summoned as an accused in the coal scam.

Later union minister Nirmala Sitharaman called a press conference and released a CD of a “sting operation" that showed the secretary of Congress chief minister Harish Rawat from Uttarakhand negotiating with a middleman allegedly linked to private liquid distributors. However, ahead of this revelation, the Indian Express reports the counter-strategy was explained to BJP MPs at a parliamentary party that was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi where booklets were also distributed to help them counter Opposition claims. “Books have been distributed. There is enough masala in them. Dhyan se padhiye (read it carefully)," sources quoted Modi as saying according to Indian Express.

Meanwhile, Mint reports that the Rajya Sabha select panel looking into the GST Bill has recommended diluting a provision for an extra 1 % levy on inter-state supply of goods. The committee submitted its report on Wednesday and recommended that the government clarify while drafting the GST law that the additional 1 % tax will be applicable only when goods are supplied to buyers. More

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Published: 23 Jul 2015, 10:44 AM IST
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