Amidst fear that the monsoon session of Parliament will be completely washed out by Opposition protests, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday expressed hope that the Constitutional Amendment Bill for GST and Land Bill will get passed.
The session is slated to begin on July 21.
“The government is hopeful that no political party will take an anti-growth position and anti-development position as far as the country is concerned and Bills like the Goods and Service Tax and the Land Bill are extremely necessary for that,” Jaitley told press persons here on Thursday.
Opposition parties have stepped up their demand for the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje after their alleged links with former IPL chief Lalit Modi went public.
The Opposition also wants Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani to quit following the Delhi High Court admitting a petition challenging the declaration made by her in an election affidavit about her educational qualifications.
Although the ruling BJP has rejected the demand for these resignations, the Opposition has made it clear that these issues will impact the monsoon session.
Indicating that the government does not want to give any importance to Lalit Modi, Jaitley said: “Some people may be of relevance to television channels (but) are of no importance as far as the governance of the Government of India is concerned.” He was responding to queries on the former IPL chief tweeting fresh allegations about prominent ruling party leaders on a daily basis.
Earlier, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had also strongly backed these leaders, insisting that they will not resign.
Against this background the monsoon session is set to see relentless attacks from the Opposition which, in turn, will affect the prospects of key legislations. Currently, the Land Bill is with the joint panel, which is expected to submit its report by the first day of the first week of the forthcoming session.
The GST Bill is with a select panel, which is expected to submit its report before the start of the session.
Yet, if there is pandemonium in the Rajya Sabha (where the NDA is in minority), then the submission will not help the government.
Pending BillsThe other pending Bills include amendments to the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, the Railways (Amendment) Bill, the Waterways Bill, Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill and Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015 among others. The government will also need to enact a new law to replace the Negotiable Instrument Ordinance in the forthcoming session.