The second phase of the Budget session of Parliament is headed for trouble.
The Opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has decided to stall Parliament proceedings demanding the rejection of the draft report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee report and the resignation of Law Minister Ashwini Kumar for his alleged interference to vet a Central Bureau of Investigation report on the coal scam.
Apparently eyeing the next general election and the upcoming Assembly elections, the Government was about to introduce Bills such as the Food Security Bill and the Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill.
The fate of the Bills to speed up reforms in insurance and pension sectors hangs in balance as the NDA is in no mood for a dialogue with the Government.
What has irked the Opposition is the reference to former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in the JPC report.
JPC report
Maintaining that the mention of Vajpayee in the report is shocking, NDA’s Working Chairman L.K. Advani said the Front collectively condemns the manner in which the draft has charged Vajpayee with knowingly having caused losses to the exchequer.
Advani said the NDA will work with other parties to ensure that the JPC report is rejected by the panel in toto.
“This is utterly and absolutely condemnable. Such conclusions in the draft report of JPC, whilst simultaneously clearing (Prime Minister) Manmohan Singh’s name, through a variety of sleights of hand, is an act of unmatched perfidy,” he told reporters on Saturday after a meeting of the Front.
The BJP is also irked over the “unprecedented criticism” of the Comptroller and Auditor General in the draft.
“The Congress should move a motion to impeach the CAG in Parliament other than using Parliamentary panels to criticise him,” veteran BJP leader and the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee Murli Manohar Joshi told Business Line .
Coal scam
Advani said the Front will take up the issue of Ashwini Kumar’s involvement in vetting a CBI report on the coal scam on the first day of the session. The BJP has already demanded his resignation.