Opposition set to corner Centre over CAA in ongoing budget session

Opposition parties are set to corner the Narendra Modi government over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, in the ongoing budget session of Parliament.

The parties, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (DMK), and the Left parties led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), plan to raise the issue in both Houses of Parliament on Monday and also plan to formulate a joint strategy.

Senior Opposition leaders have said that they have decided to hold protests in both Houses of Parliament on Monday, move notices in the week for suspension of the business hour and the zero hour to discuss the issue, and move a series of amendments when voting for the motion of thanks on President Ram Nath Kovind’s address, particularly its reference to CAA as an achievement.

This is likely to be a cause of worry for the Centre, especially in terms of productivity and passage of bills.

The move is significant as the Centre, against the backdrop of the presentation of the Union budget, aims to pass a series of key legislation and will require the support of Opposition parties for the smooth running of, particularly the Rajya Sabha where it does not have a majority.

However, the Opposition’s key push on CAA could come in the Upper House where it has significant numbers.

The TMC has moved at least six amendments in the Rajya Sabha over the President’s speech, an unprecedented step, one that the party has never taken before, according to its leaders. The proposed amendments in Rajya Sabha are on the violence against those protesters against the CAA, the economic slowdown, the “hate speech and divisive statements” by members of government and Parliament, and detention of political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir for more than six months. The party is likely to move similar amendments in the Lok Sabha as well.

“We strongly protested over the President’s speech on Friday and we will continue to do so at least for the first few days in both Houses. The Congress plans to move quite a few amendments on the speech because we have to register our opposition to the fact that CAA is being termed as an achievement. We will have a meeting of party’s senior lawmakers on Monday, in which more details will be worked out,” a senior Rajya Sabha member of the Congress said requesting anonymity.

The list of business for both Houses of Parliament for Monday states that it will take up the motion on thanks on the President’s address, which will be moved by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma in the Lok Sabha and Union minister Bhupender Yadav in the Rajya Sabha.

“We are going to join hands with other Opposition parties to raise this issue in Parliament. It is a matter of joint struggle and our senior leaders are looking at holding a joint meeting of all Opposition parties during the session on this. As far as the Left Parties are concerned, we too have moved zero-hour notices and amendments to the President’s address,” a Left leader and Lok Sabha member said requesting anonymity.

Opposition parties have been raising the CAA issue in conjunction with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR). TMC, led by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, has also given notices for suspension of rules in the Upper House on Monday to discuss the “raging anti CAA-NRC-NPR people’s movement in India”, said a senior party leader.