Opposition protest against demonetisation reduces chance for key bills

The bills are related to GST, persons with disability, on employee benefits, maternity benefits and improvement in the Medical Council

Opposition parties will again hold a protest against demonetisation inside the Parliament complex on Thursday, indicating the chances of passing some key Bills, including those related to the goods and services tax (GST), were bleak.

Other pending Bills are for persons with disability, on employee benefits, maternity benefits and improvement in the Medical Council.

The demonetisation drive will complete a month on December 8 and the Opposition is in no mood to let go of the opportunity to protest, saying the move has brought hardship for the common citizen and dented the economy.

The Opposition's move came after the government agreed for an extra holiday on December 12 on account of Eid on December 13, leaving only two working days next week, as the ongoing winter session of Parliament ends on December 16.

According to sources, the opposition will stage a protest wearing black badges on Thursday in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue inside the Parliament complex, as they had done last week.

Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar said he was in touch with all the opposition leaders to end the logjam but given the latter's mood, the legislature is unlikely to function on Thursday and Friday as well.

"The entire demonetisation exercise has resulted in a loss of Rs 1.28 lakh crore and millions of manhours," said Congress spokesperson Sushmita Dev.

While the opposition wants a debate on demonetisation with voting in the Lok Sabha, it wants the prime minister to sit through a debate in the Rajya Sabha and explain the note ban.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hit back at the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, saying they were raising unprecedented issues.

"You have a right to presume that you have importance yourself. But, there is no such precedent in the house since 1952, that the Prime Minister must be here to listen to every member," he said.

CPI-M lawmaker Sitaram Yechury reminded Jaitley that former PM Manmohan Singh had sat through the debates on telecom spectrum and coal block allocation issues.