Budget session: Opposition to discuss fuel and farmers in House - decided to kick up a ruckus over the high fuel prices in both Houses of Parliament

Most party leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, expressed deep anguish at the government’s handling of the peasants’ movement

Sonia Gandhi.: File picture

Sanjay K. Jha   |   TT   |    New Delhi   |    08.03.21 : The Congress and other Opposition parties have decided to kick up a ruckus over the high fuel prices in both Houses of Parliament during the second half of the budget session, which starts on Monday.

The Congress will move an adjournment motion on the subject on Monday, which is likely to be a non-starter as the Narendra Modi government never lets this emergency parliamentary device stop normal business to discuss an urgent issue.

Opposition members also plan to disrupt proceedings to highlight how the people are being made to endure high prices for petrol, diesel and cooking gas at a time crude prices in the international market have been low. The Congress plans to demand a discussion on the farmers’ movement too.

During the first half of the session, the government had refused a separate discussion on the farmers’ protest, arguing the matter could be raised during the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address.

However, the Opposition parties believe that Parliament will lose its relevance if it fails to debate the biggest mass movement witnessed in independent India.

A meeting of the Congress’s parliamentary strategy committee on Sunday decided that a fresh demand would be made for a full-fledged discussion on the movement, which has completed 100 days.

Most party leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, expressed deep anguish at the government’s handling of the farmers’ movement.

“What is the purpose of having a Parliament session if the most important issue is not allowed to be debated?” a senior Congress leader who attended Sunday’s meeting told The Telegraph.

“Lakhs of farmers are sitting outside Delhi’s borders; over 200 have died. This is the biggest movement in independent India. Parliament should discuss this for a full two days and resolve the deadlock.”

Other issues that the Opposition has identified include the atrocities on women in states like Uttar Pradesh, the rising unemployment, and the government’s plan to put curbs on social and mainstream media amid reports that a Group of Ministers had suggested a plan to “neutralise” critical journalists.

Another subject the Congress is keen to raise is deep sea fishing in Kerala, which has become a big issue in the election-bound state, raising the party’s hopes in the coastal areas.

Kerala’s Left government has signed a deal with an American firm for deep sea fishing and allied processing, angering the fishing community.

The Congress has described the deal as a conspiracy to sell off the state’s marine wealth, arguing this will endanger the livelihoods of lakhs of fishermen.

The session is bound to be stormy as it is being held under the shadow of Assembly elections in five states, where multiple Opposition parties are locked in fierce battle against the BJP and against one another.

While the BJP has mounted an offensive on the Trinamul government in Bengal, the Congress is striving to wrest Assam from the BJP. The fault-lines in the Opposition camp too will become increasingly visible with the Congress and the Left fighting each other in Kerala while joining hands to take on Trinamul in Bengal. The AIADMK and the DMK are engaged in a keen tussle in Tamil Nadu.

With electioneering set to peak in these states within the next few days, the session could well be curtailed.

While the government would like to wrap the session up after passing the Finance Bill to avoid any uproar over the farmers’ movement and petroleum prices, the Opposition would not be averse to a truncated session, either, because of the elections.

Many regional parties have already written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu to abridge the session, now scheduled to end on April 8.