New Delhi

Government and Opposition will have the first face off in the Budget session of Parliament tomorrow during a discussion on the JNU row in Rajya Sabha.

Sources said that at a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee today it was decided to take up the issue tomorrow after demands from members of both the ruling party and the Opposition.

BJP MP Bhupender Yadav has given a notice for discussion on the JNU row as well as on the deposition of David Headley in which he had said that Ishrat Jahan was a terrorist.

Another BJP MP Vijay Goel has given a notice as the ruling party seeks to raise the nationalist pitch during the debate.

BJP is likely to take an aggressive stand on the JNU row projecting the issue as a fight between patriots and anti-nationals.

Opposition Congress is linking the JNU controversy to the larger issue of freedom of expression and ideas.

While the Opposition has closed ranks to corner the government, BJP feels it stands to gain by turning the debate into one between “patriots and anti-nationals,” as a party leader said.

At a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, the apex decision-making organ of the party, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had accused the Modi government of having “lost all sense of balance” and undermining democratic norms over the JNU row, making it clear that Congress will take up the issue aggressively along with like-minded parties.

An all party meeting called by Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu had seen a number of opposition and BJP leaders demanding an early debate on the JNU row with CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury saying the current situation drew a “chilling parallel” with the rise of fascism in Germany.

Making it clear that Opposition will not allow passage of any key bill in the first half of the session, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said Opposition will “on merit” allow the passage of only those bills on which there is general consensus.

“Contentious bills should not be brought. Bring only those bills on which there is a general agreement. Bills like GST will not come in the first half of the session,” Kharge had said.

However, the government has listed four bills tomorrow for consideration and passage including the anti-corruption measure Whistle Blowers Bill.

Other bills include The National Waterways Bill, 2015, The Carriage by Air (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and The Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015.

BJP, allies to be aggressive on JNU, Hyderabad varsity issues

New Delhi

BJP and its allies today decided to aggressively counter Congress and the Left in Parliament over the JNU row and the Hyderabad univeristy controversy, setting the stage for a confrontation as a debate on these issues will be taken up in the Rajya Sabha tomorrow.

BJP chief Amit Shah took the lead in briefing members of the parliamentary party executive and those of the NDA about the details of the JNU case, backing the party’s nationalist pitch.

The briefing included how the NDA members should rake up incidents, including the alleged assault in JNU on army officials following the Kargil war, to buttress their arguments.

Sources said Shah, who had accused Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi of “supporting traitors” in the JNU row, gave a sequence of events on the campus and how the accused students tried to present themselves as innocents by shooting another video on a different day.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, sources said, defended the case of sedition and noted that a Supreme Court judgement had said that slogans calling for disintegration of India amounted to such a charge.

He made these remarks in the meeting of BJP parliamentary party executive which was held before the NDA meet.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attended the meeting and told the leaders of his party and allies about the government’s clear stand on the issues, resulting in it agreeing to debate them in the House as demanded by the opposition.

Signalling the likely aggressive stand of the treasury benches, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who attended the BJP meet, told reporters later that he would ask Rahul Gandhi about slogans raised in support of Parliament terror attack convict Afzal Guru who, he noted, was haged during UPA rule.

NDA speakers will also highlight the previous instances of Congress acting against “this union of Marxists and secessionists” on the campus and how they have come together now merely to corner the Modi governemnt, sources said.

Anandrao Adsul (Shiv Sena), who attended the meet, said his party totally supported the government on these issues.

A presentation was also made about the “achievements” of the government so that it could be highlighted during various debates in the session.

The boost given to infrastructure, like power and roadsin 2015 compared to previous years and high growth of the economy was also highlihgted, sources said.

PTI