BJP treads thin line on food bill, Coalgate

NEW DELHI: The BJP is keen to keep up the pressure on the government on the issue of missing coal files but won’t like it to appear as if the party was thwarting the food security bill.

At the risk of the government turning the tables against the opposition, the party did not let the Lok Sabha function over its demand for the Prime Minister’s statement on the missing files.

The BJP, backed by other opposition parties including the Left, was not dissatisfied over the statement of coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal made in Parliament in this regard.

Senior BJP leaders went by the strategy discussed at the BJP parliamentary party that, without appearing to oppose the food security bill, they would insist Prime Minister Manmohan Singh speak out on the missing files. Apparently, Lok Sabha MP Yashwant Sinha expressed concern over the party not being aggressive enough in the Rajya Sabha unlike in the Lower House where the opposition has not allowed

UNLIKE THE LOK SABHA, THE UPPER HOUSE HAS FUNCTIONED VIRTUALLY ON ALL DAYS, PASSING THE COMPANIES BILL AND DISCUSSING ISSUES

the UPA to have its way on several issues.

The Rajya Sabha has functioned virtually on all days since the monsoon session began on August 5. It has passed the Companies Bill and other legislation and also held discussions on key issues.

Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj told the government that it would not support the Insurance Bill and it should not bring it in this session. Other bills, like the Land Acquisition Bill, could not be taken up for discussion and passage despite being listed on several occasions in the day’s list of business. The Congress wanted to push the food bill in Parliament on Tuesday, being former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary, but it will now be taken up on Thursday.