Oppn disrupts session of both Houses
Neither of the two Houses of Parliament could transact any significant business, with Opposition parties demanding a discussion on the bank fraud.
Both Houses of Parliament could conduct very little business on Monday with Opposition and ruling parties demanding discussions on the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and the case against Karti Chidambaram, respectively.
Congress and Trinamool Congress (TMC) demanded a discussion on the ~12-billion letters of undertaking scam at PNB. A number of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members had also given notices for discussion on the case against Karti Chidambaram, son of former finance minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram.
There were other disruptions as well.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) members demanded a special package for Andhra Pradesh. Rivals All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam together demanded the implementation of a court order on the constitution of the Caurvey Water Management Board.
Even as the Budget session resumed on Monday after a nearly month-long break, the BJP gloated with election triumphs in the Northeast. But the Opposition camp also created a buzz.
Bahujan Samaj Party has extended support to arch-rival Samajwadi Party candidates in the Phulpur and Gorakhpur byelections in Uttar Pradesh, slated for March 11. West Bengal and Telangana chief ministers (CMs) Mamata Banerjee and K Chandrasekhar Rao, respectively, took the lead in floating the idea of a non-BJP, nonCongress Third Front. TMC sources said Banerjee had also reached out to DMK leader M K Stalin and Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray.
Former Chhattisgarh CM Ajit Jogi also spoke to Rao, extending his support. All India Majlise-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi, former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), and two MPs from Maharashtra have extended their support.
In Parliament, the government tried to change the narrative with ministers Piyush Goyal and Ravi Shankar Prasad claiming most of the PNB fraud had taken place during the previous United Progressive Alliance rule.
The Lok Sabha might take up the discussion on the PNB scam on Tuesday. In the Rajya Sabha, however, where the BJPled National Democratic Alliance is in a minority, the Congress has demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a statement.
In Tamil Nadu, superstar Rajinikanth unveiled a statue of former CM M G Ramachandran, and said he was padding up to fill the vacuum in the state’s political space. And, in Kolkata, at the Communist Party of India (Marxist) state conference, heated discussion ensued, with several leaders arguing for an adjustment with the Congress to stop the BJP.