Monsoon session: Oppn to protest 4 ordinances; govt may speak about Ladakh crisis

The Congress and other opposition parties will oppose four of the 11 legislations that the government proposes to table in the monsoon session of Parliament in place of ordinances issued earlier and expect Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reply to their concerns.

The government on the other hand is likely to make a statement on the India-China border crisis, when the Houses convene on Monday (September 14).

Party leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said the Congress is in touch with other like-minded parties and has decided to strongly oppose the three agriculture-related legislations and the amendment to the Banking Regulation Act in both houses of Parliament.

The monsoon session of Parliament starts on Monday amid unprecedented measures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Asked about when the opposition parties would meet to come up with the joint strategy to take on the government on key issues before the country, including the handling of the pandemic, the state of the economy and the Chinese aggression at the border in Ladakh, Ramesh said the leaders of various like-minded parties have been meeting virtually and it is being worked out.

“Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, KC Venugopal and myself have been talking to all like-minded opposition parties. We are in constant touch with them. We have discussed various issues to be raised and the stands to be adopted on the ordinances,” he added.

The former Union minister said the like-minded parties are opposed to four ordinances that the government had brought earlier and will now bring legislations to replace those.

He said the four ordinances — three related to the farm sector and the amendment to the Banking Regulation Act — take away the rights of the states and lead to further centralisation of power.

“There is a common ground that we should oppose these ordinances,” Ramesh said.

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Addressing a virtual press conference, Ramesh said, “We want a discussion in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on the situation at the border with China, the state of the economy, the closure of businesses and the state of the MSME industry, the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues like airport privatisation, the draft EIA notification.”

“We hope the Opposition would get an opportunity to speak and serious national issues would be discussed. We expect the prime minister to be present in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha and give a reply to the questions raised by us. The prime minister does not come and we want that he should be present in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha,” he added.

Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury too said, “We’ve proposed the issues of unemployment, the status of migrant labourers & the economic scenario in the country, to be discussed in the upcoming session. We urged the government that our voices should be heard in the Parliament,” according to news agency ANI.

“In view of the issues raised by us, the Speaker to convene another meeting of the Business Advisory Committee on September 15,” Chowdhury added.

Following Jairam Ramesh’s demand to hold a discussion on the border dispute between India and China, sources told NDTV on Sunday that the government is likely to make a statement in parliament on the India-China stand-off.

The matter was raised at the parliament’s Business Advisory Committee meeting on Sunday to discuss and slot agenda for business for the upcoming monsoon session.

(With inputs from agencies)