In a rarest of rare development, a united opposition on Friday asked the government to extend the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha by two days so crucial bills like Aadhaar and union budget could be debated.
The upper house is scheduled to slip into a 39-day recess from March 16. The opposition’s demand is part of a strategy to corner the government on the Aadhar Bill, which the BJP-led government managed to pass as a money bill in the Lok Sabha or the lower house where it has a big majority.
The opposition made this demand in the meeting of the business advisory committee or BAC which comprises of leaders of all parties.
The real intent behind the opposition’s move is to ensure that the Aadhar Bill is properly debated.
To checkmate the opposition’s majority numbers in the Rajya Sabha, the government turned the Aadhar legislation into a money bill. Once a money bill is passed by the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha or upper house can only discuss it and not make amendments.
The opposition in the Rajya Sabha had challenged the move questioning the clauses using which the bill was declared a money bill. The government in a quick move used its numbers in the Lok Sabha to pass the legislation as a money bill.
The opposition wants to discuss these contentious issues in the Rajya Sabha. Also, the rules stipulate that a money bill once officially received by the Rajya Sabha has to be discussed within 14 days – or it may be “deemed passed”. The bill is likely to be “officially received” on Monday.
The opposition knows there is little time. The first half of the session has three sittings left. On Tuesday, most of the day will go in farewell speeches of retiring lawmakers. The Rajya Sabha has to conclude its debate on Rail Budget and then take up the Budget. That is why the opposition wants few more sittings in the first half. The government is expected to revert on Monday.
The Aadhaar bill 2016 seeks to give legal sanction to the unique identification number programme or Aadhaar as a single window to distribute subsidy and other direct benefit transfers.