Opposition to meet on Monday to chalk out Parliament strategy

The government now has only two weeks to get the Union Budget for FY 2023-2024 passed in the Parliament

New Delhi: After Rahul Gandhi sent a preliminary reply to Delhi Police, which had landed at his residence on Sunday morning regarding their query in connection with the sexual assault remark he had made during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Srinagar, the Congress and like-minded parties have decided to meet at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s office on Monday to chalk out their strategy for the ongoing Parliament session.

While the opposition parties are pressing for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the Hindenburg report concerning the Adani group, Kharge said the Congress will not stop questioning the Centre over the Adani row.

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“Rahul Gandhi and Congress will not get scared by the police visit as it was done only to divert attention from the Adani issue. We will continue to question them (the BJP) on Adani, no matter how much they want to save him,” Kharge said.

The Congress claimed that Delhi Police’s ‘cheap theatrics’ show how rattled the Prime Minister is with questions on Adani, adding that it’s not the fault of the police but their political masters.

The parliamentary proceedings were disrupted this week without transacting any business owing to disruptions by treasury benches and opposition members. The government now has only two weeks to get the Union Budget for FY 2023-2024 passed in the Parliament.

As per norms, the Budget needs to be passed in both the Houses of the Parliament before the end of the financial year, i.e., prior to March 31, 2023.

Therefore, in the week starting Monday, the government may try to initiate the process of Budget clearance.

Normally, demands for grants for some key ministries like Railways and Agriculture are taken up for discussion and voting in the Lok Sabha.

After these are voted for, since there is remains little time to take up demands for grants for each and every department, the Speaker applies guillotine on all such outstanding demands for grants, and they are put up for voting, whether discussed or not.