Pegasus, farmers' issues to reverberate in Parliament

Tomar has said that the government is in no mood to repeal the laws as demanded by the farmers

The Opposition is gearing up to vociferously raise the Pegasus snooping issue and farmers' issues on Thursday even as the government is learnt to have offered to hold the discussion on the latter in Lok Sabha while insisting that the contentious laws will not be rolled back.

MPs from the Opposition benches, including those from the Congress, Trinamool Congress, CPI(M), and CPI among others, are submitting notices in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on both the issues, signalling that the proceedings of the day are likely to be disrupted.

With farmers starting their protest near Parliament on Thursday, several Opposition MPs will be raising the issue inside both the Houses demanding that the contentious laws be repealed.

Sources said Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar reached out to the Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and offered to have a discussion on farmers issue in the Lower House on Thursday. However, the Minister has said that the government is in no mood to repeal the laws as demanded by the farmers.

Also read: 'Take govt to court': Opposition's war cry after Centre says no death due to oxygen shortage

On Tuesday, the government had agreed to hold a discussion on the Covid-19 situation in Rajya Sabha before Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting for floor leaders on Covid-19.

The Pegasus issue will also continue to trigger Opposition protests in both Houses. Trinamool Congress has already made it clear that it is not going to leave the issue and would hold protests in Parliament every day after its General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee's name surfaced as a potential target for surveillance.

Also read: Farmers to protest near Parliament amid Monsoon Session

Except for the Covid-19 discussion in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday afternoon, no business was transacted in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Monday and Tuesday. The Parliament did not sit on Wednesday owing to Eid.

The written response to a question in Rajya Sabha which said that no deaths due to oxygen shortage were reported by states during the second wave of Covid-19 will also have some reverberation in Parliament. Congress MP K C Venugopal has already said that he will submit a privilege notice against the Minister for giving such a response to his question.