16 Bills to be introduced, will infringe upon states' rights, says Mamata

MP | 8 Dec 2022 | New Delhi: Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson Mamata Banerjee, who held a meeting with party MPs on Wednesday, drew the line that they would take and expressed apprehension that '16 dangerous Bills, among others' which will 'interfere and undermine states' democratic rights' are likely to be introduced in the Winter Session of the Parliament 2022 that commenced on December 7 and is slated to end on December 29. 

During the meeting held at veteran party leader and MP Saugata Roy's residence, Banerjee stated that most Bills were 'being passed without voting'. She alleged that the BJP was using its majority to push Bills through Parliament without 'adequate discussion and scrutiny'. 

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of her party meeting, Banerjee said: "You have seen if the Opposition party leaders raise their voice in the House, because of the majority, the saffron party pushes through the Bills forcefully without even voting. 

The BJP does not even accept reports of standing committees or other such committees. Under such circumstances, we are afraid whether our parliamentary democracy will be able to uphold its prestige and respect which has been preserved so far." 

She reiterated that in a democracy, the parliamentary majority always wins. "However, this does not imply that a party can stifle and bulldoze the voices of the Opposition, the states, the media and other pillars of democracy. 

Any political party may come to power and go but the parliament and our constitution will go on forever," remarked the TMC supremo, who was in Delhi to attend the preparatory meet of the G-20 summit. She is also scheduled to attend the G-20 preparatory meeting to be held on December 9 virtually. 

She visited the Ajmer Sharif Dargah and Pushkar temple on Tuesday. Stating about the 'dangerous Bills', Banerjee contended: "16 Bills, including electricity Bill, cooperative Bill, data protection Bill, will be introduced. And some other dangerous Bills will also be introduced that interfere with states' rights. Attempts are being made to undermine the democratic rights of the states, and the federal infrastructure of the country." 

She feared that the power of the states would be curtailed in most of the Bills. The Trinamool Congress supremo said: "We are afraid whether parliamentary democracy will be saved." 

However, Banerjee underlined that TMC is willing to cooperate with all Opposition parties provided it gets support from all others. According to sources, Banerjee also told party MPs to adopt a perspective of "national outlook instead of just focusing on Bengal" while making their "interventions". 

It was learnt that she also directed all the MPs to speak instead of only a few talking on most matters in the Parliament. Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee also attended the meeting. Almost all the MPs of Trinamool were present in the meeting. Later sharing a video of the meeting, Trinamool Congress tweeted: "Our Hon'ble Chairperson Smt @MAMATAOFFICIAL chaired a meeting with all our MPs in Delhi today. 

Pertinent issues which are to be highlighted in the winter session of Parliament were discussed. As representatives of people, being the VOICE OF PEOPLE is our foremost priority. In another tweet, the Trinamool stated that the former INC State president had joined the party on Wednesday. 

"Our family strengthens! With an aim to work for the betterment of Tripura, former INC State President Shri Pijush Kanti Biswas joined our Trinamool family today. We wholeheartedly welcome him to our party!" tweeted TMC. 

Meanwhile, Trinamool MP Saugata Roy, under Rule 377, raised the issue of non-payment of dues by Centre to Bengal under MGNREGA in Parliament. 

According to a tweet of TMC, Roy also opposed the introduction of the Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and proposed to send it to a standing committee. "@SaugataRoyMP opposes the introduction of The Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022, and proposes sending it to a standing committee," read TMC's tweet. 

On the first day of Parliament's winter session, the Trinamool Congress also clarified the party's position "regarding non-inclusion of its MPs among the chairs of various parliamentary committees, despite being the second largest party in Parliament". 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/big-stories/16-bills-to-be-introduced-will-infringe-upon-states-rights-says-mamata-501543