Comments
The Bill that will help validate the appointment of Nripendra Misra as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister is unlikely to see strong resistance, as Opposition parties seem divided on the demand for a vote on the issue. And the BJP will use this to its advantage, say insiders. (Under Telecom Regulatory Authority of India rules past chairmen cannot take up government assignments.)
The Bill to amend the TRAI Act, introduced by Telecom and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, saw a ruckus in Parliament.
There is a view that the Congress is using it as a bargaining tool to get the Leader of the Opposition post in the Lok Sabha, and this has not gone down well with other parties.
Although it will be easy for the Centre to get the Bill passed in the Lok Sabha with its majority, it is in a minority in the Rajya Sabha.
The Government, according to sources, has no plans to call a joint session of Parliament to get the Bill passed.
Independent stance Most of the Opposition parties, including the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), are reluctant to team up with the Congress on this issue.
The Left parties, Janata Dal (United), Biju Janata Dal, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Trinamool Congress have decided to take an independent stance in the Rajya Sabha.
A senior Left leader told Business Line that the parties will oppose the Bill in both Houses, but may not press for voting on the issue.
“We had opposed the ordinances moved by the UPA, too. We will make our positions clear in both the Houses,” a senior Left MP said.
An NCP MP said that the party is in no mood to embarrass the 50-day-old Government. The party had not walked out of the Rajya Sabha on the price rise issue when the entire Opposition did so protesting the reply of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
An ordinance was issued on May 28 to change a clause in the TRAI Act so that a former TRAI chairman could be appointed to a Government post after retirement.
When the Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha, Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy said it violated the rules. However, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Government was within its rights in tabling the Bill.
He said the Bill would bring TRAI on par with other organisations, such as the Competition Commission. The BJP has issued a whip to its members to support the Bill.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.