Parliament Resumes Today; Opposition Determined To Fight Government On Land Bill

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi might be looking forward to a “productive session, filled with constructive debates” as Parliament reconvenes after an intra-session break, but it remains doubtful whether the Opposition, determined to fight the land acquisition bill "tooth and nail", will let that happen.

"Parliament session begins today. I look forward to a productive session, filled with constructive debates on several issues," Modi tweeted out at 7:00 AM.

The first part of Budget session that began on February 20, 2015 continued till March 20, 2015 when both the Houses were adjourned to enable the department related standing committees to examine the Demands for Grants of respective ministries.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said on Sunday that the party will oppose the land acquisition bill "tooth and nail" as well as any "divisive and confrontational" policies of the Narendra Modi government.

Tharoor also termed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's address at a farmer's rally here as a "new boost" to the party's momentum. Tharoor, a Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, said the party had been "very constructive in parliament" and had supported the BJP-led NDA on the insurance bill.

"We supported those issues which we believe were in the national interest. We believe the amendments in the land acquisition bill are not in the national interest; and we will oppose it tooth and nail in whatever forums that are available to us; in this case the committees as well as Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha," Tharoor told IANS.

On March 17, Sonia Gandhi had led an opposition march against the land bill to Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The 234th Session of Rajya Sabha was prorogued and the new session was summoned on April 23 and will come to an end on May 13 subject to the exigencies of business.

Both the Houses will have 13 sittings each in the second part of the Budget session of Parliament.

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