Peeved over the government’s move to take the money bill route for Aadhaar, the Opposition has cautioned the ruling side it will not allow the passage of any bill in the Rajya Sabha without a discussion.
At the business advisory council (BAC) meeting on Friday, the opposition parties also conveyed to the government that it should extend the first half of the budget session to enable the Upper House to pass some crucial bills.
“But the government will not be allowed to rush through rail budget and general budget as it happened last year,” a Congress leader said. “We have also told them that under no circumstance will we allow any bill to pass in the Rajya Sabha without a discussion,” he said.
As per the schedule, only three days are left for the first part of the session that concludes on March 16. The government is not left with much time to take up its key legislative agenda.
While the rail budget will be discussed in the Rajya Sabha for eight hours (four hours have since elapsed), the time allotted for general budget is 10 hours. Besides speeches by retiring members will also consume significant time of the House, the Opposition told the government.
{{/usCountry}}While the rail budget will be discussed in the Rajya Sabha for eight hours (four hours have since elapsed), the time allotted for general budget is 10 hours. Besides speeches by retiring members will also consume significant time of the House, the Opposition told the government.
{{/usCountry}}The government is now likely to take a call on extending the first part of the session by Monday or Tuesday.
At the BAC meeting, the opposition parties also protested the government’s move to take the money bill route for Aadhaar. However, they were informed that Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has already certified it as a money bill so it could not be changed now. But the Rajya Sabha will discuss it.
Congress sources said the government wanted to bring the calling attention motion on the alleged alteration of affidavit relating to Ishrat Jahan case in both houses on Thursday but had to defer its plan in the Rajya Sabha due to the pressure from opposition parties. The Opposition had insisted that the real estate bill be shifted to some other day to enable a minimum of eight-hour discussion on the Ishrat Jahan issue, said a Congress MP from Rajya Sabha.