NEW DELHI, Nov 17 - Parliament�s winter session starting tomorrow is expected to witness much heat as the Opposition looks to corner the Union government over issues like economic slowdown and situation in Kashmir while the Modi dispensation seeks to push through the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, a key part of the BJP�s ideological agenda.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his customary remarks at a session eve all-party meeting held on Sunday asserted that the government is ready to discuss every issue and exhorted everyone to make the Winter session as productive as the last one, when Parliament gave its nod to the bifurcation of the then state of Jammu and Kashmir and nullifying Article 370, besides several other important bills.
Opposition leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress, raised the continuing �illegal� detention of mainstream leaders in Jammu and Kashmir like Farooq Abdullah, who is also a Lok Sabha member, and said they will take up issues like economic slowdown and unemployment in the session, which ends on December 13.
After the BJP-led NDA left the opposition stunned in the last session by winning over independent regional parties, especially in Rajya Sabha where treasury benches lacked majority, and wooing a number of rival leaders to get a host of bills passed, the Congress-led grouping has some reasons to feel emboldened over recent political developments,
Its better than expected show in the recent assembly polls, BJP�s break in ties with Shiv Sena and reports of economic slowdown have put wind in the sails of opposition parties.
Despite the setback, numbers favour the treasury benches with the BJP appearing determined to get Parliament�s approval on its legislative agenda that was stonewalled in the Modi government�s first term when opposition outnumbered it in the Upper House.
The Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya case favouring a Ram temple at the disputed site has also come has a boost to the saffron ranks.
The government has listed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, a key BJP plank which is aimed at granting nationality to non-Muslim immigrants from neighbouring countries, for passage in this session. � PTI
