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Union Budget 2016: With the presentation of the Union Budget 2016 on 29th February now just a week away, a tough fight has been promised by the Opposition parties to PM Narendra Modi over the ongoing protests, especially at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus. Here is what the Opposition said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led NDA government can expect in Parliament (session starts 23rd February):
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1. Union Budget 2016: Apparently concerned over the virtual wash out of last two sessions, Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari called an all-party meeting amid the possibility of a tumultuous session. Rajya Sabha, where the NDA government lacks majority, had seen repeated disruption in the monsoon and winter sessions with Congress and several other opposition parties blocking key economic reform measures of the Narendra Modi government. (Reuters)
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2. Union Budget 2016: This time Opposition parties have closed ranks over JNU and other rows and are offering only conditional support for the passage of just "essential" bills. (Express photo)
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3. Union Budget 2016: With the opposition showing no sign of relenting, PM Narendra Modi, who also attended the meeting, made a brief intervention hoping that the three-month long session, beginning February 23, would be a 'very constructive and positive' affair. However, there was enough indication that the crucial bills like GST are unlikely to be taken up in the first half of the session, which concludes on March 16. (AP)
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4. Union Budget 2016: The JNU row was raised by several opposition leaders and government assured them that a date for the debate on the issue will in all probability be decided on the opening day of the session itself. There is a view in BJP that a debate on the JNU row will revolve around the issue of nationalism which will work to its advantage. (PTI)
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5. Union Budget 2016: At the all party meeting, D Raja (CPI) urged Ansari to hold a structured discussion on the JNU issue and take it up on a priority basis while K C Tyagi from JD(U) accused the government of "targetting" Opposition parties, and speaking the language of Congress during the much-reviled Emergency.
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6. Union Budget 2016: In the meeting, the Opposition and the government also agreed to pass a bill without discussion in RS on delimitation exercise in West Bengal to grant voting rights to people who came to India from Bangladeshi enclaves. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who spoke first in the meeting, sought the Opposition cooperation for the same, to which West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress agreed. Jaitley added that the first part of the budget session should be devoted towards passing urgent bills besides the budget. (Reuters)
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7. Union Budget 2016: Immediately after the meeting called by Ansari, Opposition leaders huddled together to chalk out a common floor strategy. A meeting of the Congress Working Committee has been convened by party chief Sonia Gandhi on the eve of the session. (PTI)
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8. Union Budget 2016: After the meeting, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said,"we have said that we will cooperate in the passage of the essential bills, which are in the interest of the nation, and for fulfilling people's aspiration. We will support on merit basis only those measures on which there is a general consensus." Azad said that a number of incidents have happened in recent times, which are "agitating" the minds of people like the incident in JNU, bashing up of journalists in court premises and a dalit scholar's suicide in Hyderabad. "All these issues need to be discussed threadbare," he insisted. (PTI)
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9. Union Budget 2016: Asked whether the pending bills on GST and real estate could also be taken up, Azad said these were not discussed. "There has been no discussion on GST. Only those bills will be passed on which there is a general consensus," he said. Another party leader indicated that these bills could only be taken up in the second half of the budget session, which begins from April 25 and ends on May 13. (Reuters)
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10. Union Budget 2016: K C Tyagi of the JD(U) said that while the Opposition wants Parliament to run, "the unilaterism of the ruling party will not be allowed". (Express photo)
