Trinamool Congress protest in Parliament may hit bills on reforms

NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress's anger over the arrest of West Bengal minister Madan Mitra by CBI in the Saradha case is likely to spill over in Parliament as it opens for the fourth week of the winter session on Monday. As TMC chief and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee asked party MPs to intensify campaign against BJP's "vendetta politics", at stake could be the fate of some crucial pro-reforms bills the government plans to take up before the session ends.

TMC MPs plan to begin the protest on Monday outside Parliament, accusing the Centre of using CBI to hit at the Mamata Banerjee government for political gains in West Bengal. TMC also plans to display pictures of Modi with Sahara boss Subrata Roy, who is currently lodged in Tihar jail, to draw a parallel to Mitra being in CBI custody for being seen together with Saradha chief Sudipto Sen. The theme is likely to be identical when the TMC MPs protest in the House.

With just a little over a week left for the session to end, the government plans to take up crucial pro-reforms Bills like the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008, and Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2014 for consideration and passing in both Houses.

TMC floor managers are coordinating with other opposition parties to take on the government on issues of rise in excise on petrol and diesel and Hindutva issues like conversion and Ram Mandir etc being raked up by BJP members besides accusing the Centre of using CBI for "vendetta-politics".

With greater numerical strength of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, there is a possibility of the Upper House being disrupted, while the showing may not be the same in Lok Sabha. However, while TMC got support of other opposition parties in the last three weeks, it is to be seen whether the same connect works after Mitra's arrest in Kolkata on Friday.

For TMC, the idea is to stick to national issues on which most opposition parties converge, rather than take up Bengal-specific ones. According to TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brian, besides TMC, six other parties — Congress, JD(U), SP, BSP, CPM, CPI, DMK — are planning to take on the government in the Upper House on several issues of national concern.