If the last session of the Parliament was washed out due to repeated disruptions by the opposition parties over a host of issues, the upcoming monsoon session too is likely to face similar disruptions.
Buoyed by the Karnataka assembly election results, the opposition parties will try to corner the government even as the latter is preparing to get key bills passed in the house.
To set the agenda for the house, the government and Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has called separate all-party meetings on Tuesday to discuss the agenda. One of the key matters before Rajya Sabha would be to chose a new deputy chairman as the term of incumbent P.J. Kurien is getting over. The united opposition has a chance of getting its own member elected to the second top post of the upper house.
As the tenure of the Central government draws to a close and a string of elections lined up in the next a few months, the slugfest between the BJP and the Congress could get ugly. The ‘Hindu-Muslim’ debate is back in the political arena. This is likely to find reflection inside the house as the BJP is likely to object to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's “Hindu Pakistan” comment.
The session, beginning on July 18, will have only 18 sittings during which a number of bills may be presented.
Some key bills are lined up for discussions. “Currently, there are 68 bills pending in the Parliament. Of these, 25 bills are listed for consideration and passage, and three for withdrawal during the session. 18 new bills are listed for introduction, consideration, and passage,” PRS India, a think tank, said in its legislative brief.
Some key bills listed for consideration and passage include the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, Triple Talaq Bill, RTE Amendment Bill, Transgender Bill, National Medical Commission Bill, and Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill.
The new key bills listed for introduction include the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, Criminal Law Amendment Bill, Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts (Amendment) Bill, and DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill.
The Congress has also found a new issue which it will press during the upcoming session. Party chief Rahul Gandhi wrote to PM Narendra Modi to pass the Women's Reservation Bill. It could be Congress strategy to pre-empt the government move to bring the bill to claim credit. If the government delays it further, the Congress will get a chance to hit out at the Centre.