Budget Session: JNU row to be debated in Rajya Sabha tomorrow

Government and Opposition will have the first face off in the Budget session of Parliament on Wednesday during a discussion on the JNU row in Rajya Sabha. Sources said that at a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee on Tuesday it was decided to take up the issue tomorrow after demands from members of both the ruling party and the Opposition.

BJP MP Bhupender Yadav has given a notice for discussion on the JNU row as well as on the deposition of David Headley in which he had said that Ishrat Jahan was a terrorist. Another BJP MP Vijay Goel has given a notice as the ruling party seeks to raise the nationalist pitch during the debate.

BJP is likely to take an aggressive stand on the JNU row projecting the issue as a fight between patriots and anti-nationals. Opposition Congress is linking the JNU controversy to the larger issue of freedom of expression and ideas.

While the Opposition has closed ranks to corner the government, BJP feels it stands to gain by turning the debate into one between "patriots and anti-nationals," as a party leader said.

At a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, the apex decision-making organ of the party, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had accused the Modi government of having "lost all sense of balance" and undermining democratic norms over the JNU row, making it clear that Congress will take up the issue aggressively along with like-minded parties.

An all party meeting called by Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu had seen a number of opposition and BJP leaders demanding an early debate on the JNU row with CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury saying the current situation drew a "chilling parallel" with the rise of fascism in Germany.

Making it clear that Opposition will not allow passage of any key bill in the first half of the session, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said Opposition will "on merit" allow the passage of only those bills on which there is general consensus.

"Contentious bills should not be brought. Bring only those bills on which there is a general agreement. Bills like GST will not come in the first half of the session," Kharge had said.

However, the government has listed four bills tomorrow for consideration and passage including the anti-corruption measure Whistle Blowers Bill. Other bills include The National Waterways Bill, 2015, The Carriage by Air (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and The Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015.