Finale: As the Monsoon Session of Parliament enters its final week starting Monday (August 7), the five working days promise to be stormy with the Lok Sabha set to take up the Opposition’s no-confidence motion against the government and Rajya Sabha likely to witness heated debated on the Delhi Services Bill.
Lok Sabha Secretariat will grab all the eyeballs on Monday as it is expected to review the stay granted by the Supreme Court on the conviction of Rahul Gandhi in the 'Modi surname' case and decide on the revocation of his Parliament membership.
Given that Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification is revoked, it would be a shot in the arm for the Congress which is already in an attacking mode against the government over the Manipur issue. Congress would prefer Rahul Gandhi be the key speaker from the Opposition ranks during the no-trust motion which is scheduled to be taken up for debate on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to respond to the debate on Thursday.
Rajya Sabha will take up the Delhi Services Bill for debate on Monday.
Opposition's demand
The Business Advisory Committee of the Lok Sabha has allotted 12 hours for the discussion on the no-trust motion.
The Opposition has led the charge against the government on the Manipur issue since day 1 of the Monsoon Session which began on July 20. The parties have been demanding a statement from the Prime Minister inside the House. With Union Home Minister Amit Shah reiterating that he is ready to answer the Opposition’s questions on Manipur, the parties remained adamant that they wanted PM Modi to speak on the issue, thus leading to a deadlock in the Parliament.
Last week, however, the Opposition briefly suspended its protests in the Lok Sabha to allow a discussion on the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill that seeks to replace the ordinance promulgated in May after the Supreme Court granted the control of bureaucracy in the city administration to the elected government.
The Aam Aadmi Party made the Bill a rallying point to bring the Opposition parties together to oppose it in the Upper House. However, with now the BJD and YSRCP backing the Bill, it is less likely to be defeated.
The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on August 3 after a nearly five-hour debate.
As many as 20 bills have been cleared by the Houses since the session began on July 20.
The Lok Sabha has passed 15 bills so far during the Monsoon session, of which 13 were passed after the no-trust motion was admitted on July 26.
The Rajya Sabha has passed 12 bills during the session so far, while nine bills have been passed by both Houses.
(With PTI inputs)
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