All-party meet: Opposition, BJP allies turn heat on govt over eatery diktat, special package, NEET

Animesh Singh

New Delhi, July 21

In signs of a stormy start to the Budget session of Parliament commencing Monday, the BJP-led NDA today faced the heat from allies and Opposition alike at an all-party meet, where both joined ranks to raise issues such as UP Government’s directive on the Kanwar Yatra route eateries and special category status for Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

Two of NDA’s key allies — HAM’s Jitan Ram Manjhi and RLD’s Jayant Chaudhary — skipped the meeting where the Congress again demanded Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker’s post besides seeking discussions on the NEET-UG paper leak, terror attacks in J&K, Manipur violence and serial train accidents.

As many as 55 leaders from 44 parties attended the meeting, where smaller parties were invited for the first time, said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju. The opposition TMC skipped the meeting as leaders were away to observe Martyrs Day, marking the killing of 13 Congress workers under the CPM regime in Kolkata in 1993, when TMC chief Mamata Banerjee was the state youth Congress president.

At the meeting chaired by Deputy Leader of LS Rajnath Singh, who recalled opposition’s ruckus during PM’s reply in the previous session as “unparliamentary” and promised to take up all discussions within the rules, ally JD(U) and Jagan Reddy-led YSR Congress sought special category status for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, respectively.

Questioning another NDA ally Telugu Desam Party’s silence on special category status to Andhra, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh pointed out: “In today’s all-party meeting, the JD(U) leader demanded special category status for Bihar. The YSRCP leader demanded special category status for Andhra. Strangely, the TDP leader kept quiet on the matter.”

Even as NDA’s Bihar ally Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan backed JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha on the package demand, TDP leader in the LS Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu (who had switched loyalties to the TDP from the YSR Congress ahead of the state and general elections) said the Andhra Government would release a white paper on the state of finances in a day or two. “It will send shockwaves,” Devarayalu said, adding the TDP would raise in Parliament the issue of the financial mess that the erstwhile YSRCP had pushed the state into.

BJD Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra sought special status for Odisha, backing JD(U)’s similar demand for Bihar. “Odisha has been deprived of the special category status for more than 20 years. Political parties from Bihar and Andhra have also demanded special category status for their respective states. The BJD has demanded special category status for Odisha,” Patra said after the meeting.

The meeting saw Samajwadi Party’s Ram Gopal Yadav raising the issue of UP’s directive asking eateries along the Kanwar yatra route to display owners’ names. NCP’s Praful Patel backed the demand of the SP and other NDA allies — the RLD, JD(U) and LJP — to recall the “divisive order”.

RLD chief and Union Minister Jayant Chaudhary told the media in Muzaffarnagar later in the day that the Kanwar yatra diktat was “not well thought out”. “Any decision shouldn’t harm the sense of well-being and harmony in the community,” Chaudhary said, adding the yatra tradition had always been inclusive, with no distinctions made about who served the pilgrims.

Earlier, in response to Rijiju’s appeal to all parties to cooperate during the upcoming Budget session for smooth conduct of both Houses, Deputy Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi said the Opposition should be allowed to raise issues in Parliament.

While assuring accommodation of all opposition demands, Rijiju said “running Parliament smoothly is the collective responsibility of the government and Opposition.”

“The government is open to discussing any issue in Parliament by following the rules,” he said.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said disruptions as seen in the last session when the Opposition interrupted PM’s speech “should not happen in Parliament”.

The Budget session will last till August 12. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget on July 23.

SC to take up plea against UP order

New Delhi: The row over UP Government’s directive asking eateries on the Kanwar Yatra route to display the names of owners has reached the Supreme Court with the Association for Protection of Civil Rights challenging its validity. The plea seeking quashing of orders by the UP and Uttarakhand governments is listed for hearing before a Bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice SVN Bhatt on Monday.