Challenges galore for Modi govt in Parliament

New Delhi: The first full budget for the Narendra Modi government is set for stiffer floor test in the house as it gets past its honeymoon phase.

At least 66 bills are expected to be discussed in the parliament’s budget session. In addition there are 6 ordinances in force that have to get a Parliamentary approval.

The most important bills to be brought in the budget session are the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Second Ordinance, 2014, the Insurance Laws Amendment Ordinance, 2014, the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014, the Citizenship (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015, the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015, the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 2015. 

But the budget session is expected to get a stormy start as the opposition parties have slammed the Modi government for following the Ordinance passage, as the government in the last seven months of its tenure has brought atleast eight ordinances. 

The first bill to be introduced in the house is the bill to replace the land acquisition ordinance that would be introduced in Lok Sabha on Tuesday for discussion. 

The bill which was amended by the Modi government via ordinance has been opposed by all the opposition parties. 

Meanwhile, Veteran activist Anna Hazare on Monday also launched his protest against the government the Land Acquisition Bill and sat on dharna at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, which has been joined by the Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal . 
 
The saffron party problems do not end here as the resistance from RSS affiliates like Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and Bharatiya Kisan Sangh who are backing Anna protest are bound to create problems for it.
 
The Trinamool Congress MPs on Tuesday also staged a protest outside the parliament house for the anti-farmer ‘Land Acquisition Bill’. 
 
The protest is set to get stiffer as Congress, Janata Parivar allies Samajwadi Party, JD(U), RJD, JDS and others have already decided to launch a joint agitation against the ordinances on land, coal and mines.

On Monday evening Congress, Trinamool, JD(U), DMK, Samajwadi Party, BSP and the Left party leaders met in Rajya Sabha to work out a common plan to corner the government in the budget session of Parliament. 

However, according to sources the government is unlikely to immediately step back on the land acquisition ordinance despite the opposition uniting against the Modi government’s move to make it easier for industrial and infrastructure projects to acquire land in an attempt to boost investment. The bill is also aimed at assuaging the concerns for foreign investors who have been concerned at the impediments to land acquisition for mega projects in India.

While the government Ministers have told Newsmobile that they are confident of good floor management and will seek to take into account genuine concerns of the opposition but a heated session and a paralysis in Parliament could stall the growth engine of the Modi government.