Oppn demands discussion on price rise, Agnipath scheme

New Delhi: Leaders of various opposition parties on Sunday demanded that issues of price rise, 'Agnipath' scheme as well as the alleged misuse of investigative agencies be taken up in Parliament and also raised objections to the list of "unparliamentary words" at an all-party meeting convened by the government ahead of the Monsoon Session.

Sources said the leaders were unanimous in their demand for the immediate withdrawal of the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces and called for a discussion on important issues like price rise and the status of the economy during the session starting Monday.

Addressing reporters after the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the government was open to discussion on all issues under the rules and procedures of Parliament. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge asked how 32 bills, lined up by the government, will get passed in 14 days in Parliament and said, "What is the government is trying to do?" "We raised 13 issues including price rise, Agnipath, attack on the federal structure of the country and misuse of investigative agencies such as ED and CBI," Kharge told reporters after the meeting.

Leaders from almost all parties including Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Jairam Ramesh, DMK's TR Baalu and Tiruchi Siva, TMC's Sudeep Bandyopadhyay and NCP's Sharad Pawar, besides BJD's Pinaki Misra, YSRCP's Vijaysai Reddy, TRS' Keshav Rao, RJD's AD Singh and Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut were present.

The government was represented by Union Minister Rajnath Singh, who is also deputy leader of the Lok Sabha, his cabinet colleague and leader of the house in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.

"Today, in the all-party meeting, many political parties, including those supporting NDA, pointed out the contradiction in the Modi government claiming credit for its presidential candidate on the one hand and killing off the Forest Rights Act, 2006 on the other hand," Congress' Jairam Ramesh tweeted.

He earlier raised strong objections over the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the all-party meeting to discuss issues that will come up in Parliament.

IUML leader E T Mohammed Basheer said every opposition party raised the issue of Agnipath, price rise and the row over the words listed in a new booklet by the Lok Sabha Secretariat that will be considered "unparliamentary".

BJD leader Pinaki Misra came out in support of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla over the issue, saying he was "unfairly targeted" as listing out such words has been a routine practice in Parliament.

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader also pressed for the passage of the women's reservation bill besides demanding a legislative council for Odisha, where the party is in power for many years now.

"It is high time we insisted that government should bring the women's reservation bill," said AIADMK leader M Thambidurai.

DMK's TR Baalu and AIADMK's Thambidurai also raised the Sri Lankan crisis and said India should intervene to settle the issue.