Oppn tells PM to discuss only non-contentious bills

New Delhi: As the budget session of the Parliament commenced with the joint session address of President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday, the Opposition parties have asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to not present any controversial bills in Parliament during the ongoing session.

The opposition parties conveyed this to the Prime Minister during an all-party meeting held in New Delhi, a day before the interim budget is presented before Parliament.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the Opposition had asked the government to take up only those bills that were not controversial in Parliament during the Budget session.

"We should take up only those bills which are not controversial... on which there is total unanimity," the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha said, adding that it would be difficult for Parliament to function if the government pushes for contentious bills.

During the all-party meeting, Trinamool Congress leaders Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Derek O'Brien raised six issues.

The TMC leaders said that once the President's address and budget discussions got over, there would only be a few hours left for discussion. They said that the issue of jobs and farmer distress should be discussed during that time.

They questioned why the government had listed as many as 48 bills to be discussed in just 240 minutes. "Why has Government listed 48 Bills in 240 minutes? Only 5 minutes per Bill!," they said.

Echoing Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad's sentiments, the two leaders said that the government should refrain from presenting controversial bills. "Government will be responsible for disruptions if they list contentious Bills," the TMC leaders said.

They also said that the TMC would raise the issue of misuse of the CBI. "CBI is being misused against political opponents. This will be raised strongly by us and other Opposition parties," Derek O'Brien said.

In another development, the Opposition parties are also slated to meet on Friday to discuss their future course of action on the EVM tampering issue.

Various opposition parties have been claiming that only 2-3 countries across the world are using EVMs and the rest have reverted to the ballot paper system following complaints of EVM malfunctioning.