Budget session today; Oppn set to gun for govt on Pegasus, farmers, China

New Delhi: The Budget session of Parliament starting Monday is likely to be stormy with opposition parties all geared up to raise the Pegasus snooping allegations, farmers’ issues and the border row with China.

The session is being held in the midst of crucial assembly elections in five states, including Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP is locked in a bitter electoral contest with its rivals, and with the campaigning in full swing, it will have an effect on Parliament proceedings.

The opposition is preparing to unitedly take on the government on the Pegasus snooping row after The New York Times claimed that India purchased the snooping spyware as part of a defence deal with Israel in 2017.

Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha has already written to Speaker Om Birla for moving a privilege motion against the government and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for “misleading” the House, as the government had denied the charges of “spying” in a statement in Parliament last year.

The Pegasus row had led to a washout of the last Monsoon session when a united opposition did not allow both houses to function and sought a discussion on the matter.

Sources said the government is unlikely to agree to a discussion on the issue and will focus on getting its legislative business cleared.

The principal opposition Congress has said that it will reach out to like-minded parties to raise issues such as farm distress, Chinese “incursions”, demand for a relief package for COVID-19 victims, sale of Air India and the Pegasus snooping row during the session.

The session will begin with President Ram Nath Kovind’s address to a joint sitting of both houses in the Central Hall. —(PTI)