With the Opposition insisting on an adjournment motion on price rise straight away and the government unwilling to concede ground, the monsoon session of Parliament, starting on Monday, promises to begin on a confrontationist note.
Parties in the Opposition have packed their armoury with a variety of issues to be raised during the five-week session. Especially they have decided to corner the Manmohan Singh government on the spiralling price rise, particularly in the wake of the recent hike in the prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene and cooking gas.
Opposition members would give notice of an adjournment motion and insist that it be taken up as soon as the Lok Sabha assembles on Tuesday. Both Houses are expected to be adjourned on Monday after obituary references to the former Vice President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, and sitting members — Virendra Bhatia (SP) in the Rajya Sabha and Digvijay Singh (Independent) in the Lok Sabha.
At an all-party meeting on Sunday called by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, members said the House should run smoothly and put the onus on the government. The Opposition would cooperate so long as its demands for discussions on issues are met.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal did not agree with the Opposition demand for an adjournment motion on price rise, stating the issue was not of a recent nature, while Opposition MPs said they would await the verdict of the Speaker on their motion.
Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj said there would be no disturbance provided the government heeded the demand of the Opposition benches. She charged the government with trying to break the unity among the Opposition by filing a charge sheet against the former Gujarat Minister, Amit Shah.
The issue of politicisation of the CBI, which the BJP would raise, found qualified support from CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta. Basudeb Acharia, CPI (M) leader, told The Hindu that the party would raise implementation of the Ranganath Misra Commission recommendations on minorities, and passage of the Women's Reservation Bill.
