Parliament Winter Session: Parties sharpen knives to kill Insurance Bill

New Delhi: The Winter Session of Parliament which begins on Monday promises to be a political potboiler, with the Trinamool, that boycotted Sunday’s all-party meeting, as well as the JD(U) and SP announcing their intention of scuttling the big-ticket Insurance Bill by enlisting the support of the Congress, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoped the session would be “constructive.”

Trinamool, JD(U), SP and the Left parties also vowed to raise the question of the return of black money stashed overseas, while the Congress said it would raise issues such as the scrapping of the Planning Commission, attempts to dilute MNREGA and recent incursions on the Chinese border.

Both the Trinamul and SP boycotted the all-party meeting chaired by parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday, while the Shiv Sena said that whatever be its differences with the BJP in Maharashtra, it would stand by the NDA government on the floor of both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

“CPI-M, JD(U), SP, BSP and Trinamul will oppose the Insurance Bill. The Congress should support (us) if the Opposition’s larger unity is to be showcased. We will also give a ‘big no’ to the amendment in the Land Acquisition Bill and will oppose any change in MNREGA,” said JD(U) leader K.C. Tyagi. In a fresh bid to avoid disruptions over the UPSC CSAT row, the government had also convened a separate all-party meeting.