A washed-out monsoon session behind it, the Modi government will now unleash an offensive against the Opposition, accusing it of wasting crores and impeding the country’s economic growth.
Union ministers and other leaders of the ruling NDA have been instructed to take this message to the public through press conferences and protests. They will specifically target the Lok Sabha segments that elected 44 Congress lawmakers and nine of the Left.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for the campaign yesterday, comparing the Congress’ unrelenting protests to disrupt Parliament through the session with the assault on democracy during the Emergency.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will hold a press conference at National Media Centre in Delhi today, while other prominent ministers like Piyush Goel and Nirmala Sitharaman will also hold pressers in different parts of the country.
Office bearers of the ruling BJP will meet today to chalk out their strategy and calendar for the big anti-opposition offensive.
The main opposition Congress ensured through its protests demanding the resignation of three top BJP leaders, that no significant work was transacted in the monsoon session. A flat-out effort by the government to push through the country’s biggest ever tax reform, the Goods and Services Tax, failed, dealing a huge blow to its reform agenda.
Sources say the government could now call a special five-day session of Parliament starting August 31 in an attempt to push through the Goods and Services Tax or GST Bill, which creates a national sales tax to subsume a complicated network of central and state levies. Supporters say GST will add up to two percentage points to economic growth and boost domestic trade while creating a unified national market.
The Congress, which blames the government for Parliament not functioning through the 21-day monsoon session that ended on Thursday, plans a counter offensive. Its leaders in both houses, Mallikarjun Kharge and Ghulam Nab Azad will also hold press conferences attacking the governent.