Uttarakhand, Ishrat, Kanhaiya: This Parliament session will be anything but peaceful

It is almost impossible for the Indian Parliament to have a peaceful and cooperative session these days. Even as Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Sunday presided over an all-party meeting and made a strong pitch for the smooth functioning of parliament session beginning on Monday, we all know what is really going to happen. With the political crisis in Uttarakhand, the heated political rivalry during the Assembly elections and other controversial issues like the Ishrat Jahan case or pretty much anything related to Kanhaiya Kumar, this Parliament session is bound to turn into an open season against the Modi government faster than you can say ‘second half of the Budget session’. Here are the issues that will probably disrupt the Parliament: Uttarakhand political crisis [caption id=“attachment_2746852” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat. PTI[/caption] Even as the government has listed a heavy agenda for the session, including passage of 13 bills in Lok Sabha and 11 bills in Rajya Sabha, there is understanding among its floor managers that pushing the contentious measures like GST will not be possible in first few days, PTI had reported. Congress, backed by the Left, JD(U) and other opposition parties, is determined to corner the Centre over the imposition of President’s rule in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh, calling it an “assault” on the federal structure. The NDA government is likely to counter the attack citing instances of imposition of President’s rule when Congress governments, governments backed by it or other Opposition parties were in power at the Centre. Ishrat Jahan case [caption id=“attachment_2746854” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] The Ishrat Jahan case is set to hit the Parliament yet again. IBNLive[/caption] This is an issue which had disrupted the Parliament even in the first part of the Budget Session. When the BJP government claimed that the previous UPA regime had deliberately removed the charges against Ishrat Jahan in its second affidavit filed in the case to trap Narendra Modi, all hell had broken loose in the Parliament. Now, an ABPLive report has quoted sources as saying that “Sonia is said to be seething with rage at the ‘sinister attempt’ to link her name to this legal wrangle and has decided not to cooperate with the government.” When the president of arguably the most significant Opposition party is reportedly “seething with rage”, it can never be a good thing for the Parliament. The alleged morphed picture used by TMC [caption id=“attachment_2746862” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Sitharam Yechury said he will raise the issue of the morphed picture in the Parliament. Agencies[/caption] CPM general secretary Sitharam Yechury had said on Sunday that he will raise the issue of the morphed picture used by Trinamool Congress in the Parliament Session. “I will raise the morphed picture issue in Parliament. Our party has already lodged a police complaint in this connection in Delhi,” PTI had quoted Yechury as saying at an election meeting in Singur in Hooghly district. Senior CPM leader Prakash Karat had filed a complaint at Mandir Marg police station in New Delhi against Trinamool lawmaker and its national spokesperson Derek O’Brien for allegedly using a morphed picture of him being offered sweets by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Attacks on Kanhaiya Kumar [caption id=“attachment_2746866” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] A Parliament session is probably not complete without some outrage linked to Kanhaiya Kumar. PTI[/caption] And of course, how can a Parliament session be complete without some outrage related to the JNU row? CPI has reportedly said that it will raise the issue of attacks on JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar in the Parliament.

Will raise in parliament the issue of serial attacks on JNUSU president #KanhaiyaKumar: CPI

— ANI (@ANI) April 25, 2016

This statement comes a day after Kanhaiya alleged that a BJP supporter tried to strangulate him on a Jet Airways flight. Other issues [caption id=“attachment_2746872” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] The droughts, heat waves and lack of water across the country is likely to be a point of outrage in the Parliament. Agencies[/caption] The Opposition is also planning to attack the government over the imposition of President’s Rule in Arunachal Pradesh, the Pathankot terror attack, drought management and alleged communalisation of educational institutes. After the near wash-out of the two sessions last year, the government is looking ahead to the second half of the Budget session to push bills, including the key Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, touted as the biggest tax reform in India. But maybe even the government knows that not a lot is going to happen on the first day. DNA reported that the government has included only one new bill — The Indian Institute of Management Bill, 2016 — in its priority list in the Parliament. With agency inputs