The new Parliament building
By G Krishna Mohan Rao*
New Delhi: The three-week-long monsoon session of the Parliament starting July 20, 2023 is going to be stormy with both the government and the opposition parties getting into election mode. The session would continue till August 11, spread across 23 days and will have 17 sittings, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, after consultations with the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, stated today.
It may be recalled that the last full budget session of this government was nearly washed out over the Adani issue following the United States of America-based short-seller firm Hindenburg Research’s indictment of the Adani Group, and the government turned a deaf ear to the Opposition’s vehement demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the matter.
Sources said that initially, the monsoon session would commence from the old Parliament building and would later shift to the new building, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28, 2023, amidst a boycott by 19 opposition parties. The government appealed that in the new Parliament building, the political parties should work on all pressing issues of the day in a constructive rather than disruptive manner.
The ongoing violence in Manipur is expected to prominently feature in both houses of parliament. Since Manipur is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state, the Opposition is going to target the Government vehemently. Moreover, the Parliament is meeting at a time Prime Minister Modi made a strong pitch for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
This coming monsoon session will be the first session of the Parliament after members of 17 opposition parties met at Patna last month and decided to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together. The government is all set to bring crucial Bills including the legislation to replace its ordinance that took away substantial powers from the Delhi government. It is obvious that the main opposition party, the Congress Party, is in an upbeat mood after sweeping the recent Karnataka polls and wants to continue the tempo in view of the upcoming assembly polls in Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Meanwhile, the Congress Party parliamentary strategy group meeting was held under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and took stock of the issues and Bills coming up in the monsoon session. Sources say that on the UCC issue, it was decided to move cautiously and not get into the “ trap laid” by the BJP. It was decided to wait till the government comes out with a draft bill on UCC and also decided not to oppose much-needed reforms in personal laws. With regards to the Ordinance Bill, it was decided to oppose the bill, while at the same time opposing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi as well. Since the 17 opposition parties are going to hold their second meeting in Bengaluru on July 13 and 14, 2023, under the leadership of the Congress Party, it was decided to fine-tune the strategy only after the meeting.
Voting on the Delhi government’s Ordinance Bill will be crucial with the AAP government approaching all political parties and trying to unite the entire Opposition to defeat the Ordinance Bill. The final stand to be taken by the non-Congress and non-BJP parties on the Bill will be significant. While the BJP with its 303 MPs in Lok Sabha enjoys a clear majority and would have no problem in getting the Ordinance Bill passed. However, in the Rajya Sabha, the current strength of the BJP and allies is only 238 MPs and it would be difficult to pass if the non-BJP parties come together.
Many opposition parties feel that UCC could bring Parliament to a standstill. The government seems to be planning something big on this front, particularly after Modi’s strong speech on the uniform civil code. Given that the elections in key states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana would see a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress, both sides would want to send a message to their constituents. Sources said that the Digital Data Protection Bill, expected this session, was ready in the previous session but could not be tabled due to disruptions. The Bill could further liberalise conditions for data transfers. Forest conservation (Amendment) Bill among others is also likely to be taken in the short session.
As of date, 38 draft legislations are pending before Parliament after just one bill was passed last time during the budget session. The Bills pending before the Parliament include the Inter-Services Organisation(Command, Control and Discipline) Bill, 2023; the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2022; and the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022.On the other side, the government is expected to highlight Prime Minister Modi’s successful foreign visits, particularly the recent US visit. The infrastructure push under the Modi government as well as initiatives to contain inflation were among others to be highlighted through government statements.
