The Hindu : Front Page : BJP to highlight price rise, agrarian crisis during budget session

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BJP to highlight price rise, agrarian crisis during budget session

Special Correspondent

Meeting of floor leaders of National Democratic Alliance planned on February 25

Nuclear deal and terrorism to figure during debate
on President’s address
BJP will oppose any move to use delimitation as an excuse to extend President’s Rule in Karnataka

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party is expected to highlight various economic issues and problems on the security front in the first part of the budget session through debates on the President’s address and the Railway and Union Budgets. This was also an indication that unlike previous budget sessions, the BJP may not disrupt proceedings.

A meeting of floor leaders of the National Democratic Alliance is planned on February 25, the first day of the session.

At a recent meeting of the BJP’s core parliamentary group held with L.K. Advani in the chair, it was decided that in the first part of the Budget, the customary debates on thanking the President for her address, the Railway and the Union budgets would leave no time to raise other issues.

“We decided that the issues we do want to highlight — farmers’ suicides and the general agrarian distress, price rise, including the effect of fuel price hike on essential food items, the security issue and the rise of naxalism, the India-U.S. nuclear deal and so on — would be best done by our speakers on the general discussions that are customary during budget sessions,” the party’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, said.

Speaking to reporters here on Friday, Ms. Swaraj said that over the next few days, speakers from the party in both the Houses would be identified and given specific subjects.

During the debate on the Union budget, the issue of price rise and agrarian distress would be taken up as well as other economic issues.

Terrorism and the BJP’s charge that the United Progressive Alliance government was not doing enough to contain it would be taken up during the debate on the President’s address, as would the nuclear deal.

Another subject which is very much on the BJP’s mind is the Assembly elections in Karnataka. The party has said it would oppose any move to use the delimitation process as an excuse to extend President’s Rule.

Since the President’s Rule is till May, the question of extension, if any, would come up only during the second part of the Budget session.

Ram Sethu

Since the government is expected to submit a fresh affidavit on Ram Sethu to the Supreme Court by the first week of March, this could become an issue for the BJP depending on what is said.

The BJP wants the government to base the project on a fresh realignment bypassing the undersea rock formations between India and Sri Lanka popularly known as the Ram Sethu.

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