31 Bills in 17 days of Monsoon Session in Parliament; Opposition demands “Manipur ki Baat” first thing first.

The Monsoon Session of Parliament will begin on July 20, and will continue till August 11. As many as 31 bills are expected to be tabled in little more than a fortnight. The list of bills also include the contentious Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, in order to replace the ordinance also popularly called the Delhi ordinance. Aam Aadmi Party has strongly criticised the ordinance, calling it unconstitutional. Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Chief Minister over past several days has managed to harness support from other opposition parties including the Congress and the TMC against the ordinance. The bill in all likeness will stoke a storm with other opposition parties supporting the Delhi Chief Minister. "We will strongly oppose the Ordinance. We thank all the opposition parties who have supported us" said AAP leader Sanjay Singh.

The Monsoon Session comes at a time when over two month long violence in Manipur has left more than 150 dead and thousands displaced. The opposition parties are up in arms against the Union Government, accusing centre of failing to contain the violence there. Interestingly, PM Modi till date hasn’t said a word on Manipur as yet and the opposition parties are demanding a statement from the PM on the floor of the house, allow discussion. “PM Modi, you have to speak in Parliament. Enough of Mann ki Baat, time for Manipur Ki Baat. If you do not speak then you will be accused of disrupting the house” said TMC MP Derek O’brien, hours before the monsoon session kick starts on Thursday.

Following the customary all party meeting on Wednesday, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi assured that the government was willing to discuss issues permitted under the rules. “All the parties want a discussion on Manipur and the government is ready to discuss it,” said Joshi.

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury claimed on Wednesday that his party plans to move an adjournment motion on the first day of the session demanding a discussion on Manipur. “Manipur has been burning for two and a half months but the Prime Minister has kept silent. The House is also going to start from tomorrow, the Prime Minister is requested to come and give a statement in the House and give us a chance to discuss. We want to bring an adjournment motion tomorrow as the situation in Manipur is getting worse by the day.” he said.

Amongst the other bills, there is the Data protection Bill too, one that aims to replace the existing Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules. The data protection bill, part of the Centre’s vision of ‘Digital India’, has witnessed chaos and protest in the Parliament before with opposition questioning the privacy policy in the bill.

The Monsoon Session is expected to witness stormy start in both houses, two days after opposition formed their new alliance I.N.D.I.A to take on NDA led by ruling BJP for the upcoming LokSabha elections 2024.