Opposition to focus on charges against Gujarat minister, Jharkhand issue in Parliament

On Monday, opposition parties including the Congress and Trinamool Congress will take up the Gujarat issue in the Rajya Sabha. “We have decided that our woman MPs will raise the issue. Trinamool’s Dola Sen and Mausam Noor will serve notice under Rule 267 of the House for discussion on the rape allegation against a Gujarat minister. The Congress too, is likely to field its women MPs to raise the issue,” said an Opposition leader.

Two new developments—the allegation of rape against a Gujarat minister and three Congress MLAs from Jharkhand caught with ₹49 lakh in Kolkata—are set to trigger a fresh round of opposition-led protests in Parliament from Monday.

Two new developments—the allegation of rape against a Gujarat minister and three Congress MLAs from Jharkhand caught with ₹49 lakh in Kolkata—are set to trigger a fresh round of opposition-led protests in Parliament from Monday. (ANI)

The opposition’s protests might cast a shadow on the business to be conducted in the two Houses next week.

On Monday, opposition parties including the Congress and Trinamool Congress will take up the Gujarat issue in the Rajya Sabha. “We have decided that our woman MPs will raise the issue. Trinamool’s Dola Sen and Mausam Noor will serve notice under Rule 267 of the House for discussion on the rape allegation against a Gujarat minister. The Congress too, is likely to field its women MPs to raise the issue,” said an Opposition leader.

On Friday, Gujarat’s rural development minister Arjunsinh Chauhan was accused of raping and illegally confining a woman.

Rajya Sabha’s Rule 267 allows an issue to be discussed setting aside all business listed for the day. Since Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu is unlikely to accept a discussion under Rule 267, opposition protests are likely to continue. The last discussion under Rule 267 was on demonetization in 2016.

On Tuesday, the opposition plans to raise the Jharkhand situation in the light of three Congress MLAs found with ₹49 lakh in Kolkata. The Congress has suspended the three lawmakers and alleged a plot by the Bharatiya Janata Party to derail the coalition government in Jharkhand run by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Congress.

On Sunday, Congress leaders Avinash Pandey and Pawan Khera held a press conference alleging a “conspiracy” similar to what happened in Maharashtra had been hatched “to destabilize the coalition government in Jharkhand.” Pandey alleged that “a chief minister is involved in threatening our MLAs.”

To be sure, the BJP, too, will come prepared to counter these allegations and turn the table on the opposition. “Congress party has a habit of levelling baseless allegations against others to sweep their own mistakes under the carpet,” tribal affairs minister Arjun Munda, who hails from Jharkhand, told ANI. “The Congress MLAs must explain where all the cash recovered from the car came from.”

Congress runs governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and shares power in Jharkhand as a coalition partner.

The Lok Sabha is scheduled to take up the debate on price rise on Monday and the Rajya Sabha is set to discuss the Family Courts Bill. On Tuesday, the price rise is planned to be discussed in the Upper House.