No-trust debate, Delhi services bill in focus as Monsoon session enters final leg

No-trust motion, Delhi services bill, stalemate on Manipur debate and Rahul Gandhi's re-entry into Lok Sabha will dominate the final leg of Parliament's Monsoon Session, which will end on Friday.

While the Opposition and the government are likely to lock horns over the Manipur debate and Delhi bill in Rajya Sabha, the major highlight in Lok Sabha would be the three-day debate on no-confidence motion from Tuesday.

The Congress and other I.N.D.I.A parties are keenly watching the Lok Sabha Secretariat on whether it would take a call on issuing a notification reinstating Rahul’s membership in Lok Sabha after the Supreme Court stayed his conviction in a defamation case.

Any delay in the notification is likely to lead to pandemonium in the Lok Sabha where the Opposition expects Rahul to be present when the no-confidence motion will be taken up. Congress is planning to make Rahul’s re-entry a grand show in Parliament.

Rajya Sabha will witness a war of attrition between the Opposition and the Treasury benches over the Manipur debate.

The no-trust motion will be debated for 12 hours with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to respond on Thursday afternoon. The motion came as the government refused to hold an immediate discussion and the Opposition claimed they were forced to resort to this mechanism to ensure that Modi came to Parliament to speak on the issue.

As part of its strategy, the Opposition had paused its Manipur issue in Lok Sabha to take part in the discussion on Delhi services bill. 

In Rajya Sabha, the Opposition has demanded a debate for six hours, instead of three hours allotted, and it would insist on a division. With the BJD and YSR Congress supporting the government, the Opposition will not have the numbers but it has said that the voting would expose parties on where they stood on the issue of federalism.

Since July 20, the government has passed 15 Bills in Lok Sabha after debates of around 10 hours and 12 in Rajya Sabha after deliberations of around 20 hours. Both Houses together have passed nine Bills.

Thirteen of the 15 Bills passed in Lok Sabha were cleared after the Opposition’s no-confidence motion was admitted. 

Except for the Delhi Bill in Lok Sabha where 4:54 hours were spent, the Opposition did not participate in the debates as they were protesting while raising the demand for an immediate demand for Manipur discussion.

The government has listed the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023; the Anusandhan National Research Foundation Bill, 2023; The Pharmacy (Amendment) Bill, 2023; and the Mediation Bill, 2023 for consideration and passage in Lok Sabha on Monday.

In Rajya Sabha, the government has listed the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill to replace a contentious ordinance and the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill for passage on Monday.