New Delhi: With the Ayodhya dispute hotting up and a host of other issues cropping
up, the Budget session of Parliament beginning on February 17 is likely to be
tumultuous amid moves by Opposition to get its act together for taking on the
Vajpayee government that has been upbeat after the Gujarat victory.
The Opposition has plans to demand a discussion on the Ayodhya issue in both Houses
under a rule which calls for voting in a bid to drive a wedge between Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) and its allies that includes Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK),
which has been unhappy with BJP lately for a variety of reasons.
Incidentally, the three-month-long session begins just four days before the Supreme
Court takes up the Centre's plea on Ayodhya while the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)
has threatened that the February 22 Dharam Sansad would be forced to take a "harsh"
decision if the undisputed land was not handed over.
The Opposition is also bracing up for the session with Congress president Sonia
Gandhi meeting leaders of Opposition parties including her detractors Sharad Pawar
of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Mulayam Singh Yadav of Samajwadi Party for
evolving a Floor strategy.
Other issues which may rock Parliament are hindutva, disinvestment of public sector
undertakings, Cauvery dispute, war clouds hovering over Iraq, interconnection
problems in the telecom sector and World Trade Organisation (WTO).
With crucial Assembly elections due for February 26, the BJP is trying to put
Congress in a difficult situation by favouring a Bill seeking to ban cow
slaughter.
PTI
