NDA Govt. inherited problems from UPA regime: Naidu

With the Congress cornering the government over the recent controversies such as the JNU campus row and the suicide of Hyderabad University PhD scholar Rohith Vemula, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday alleged that the BJP-led government has inherited some of these problems from the UPA regime.

Naidu assured the Opposition that the government is willing to discuss every issue whether it is JNU, Hyderabad University, Pathankot attack and Jat reservation in the Budget Session of Parliament.

"All these issues are not created by this government. We inherited some of these problems. Whose regime was there when the students were committing suicides in Hyderabad University? It was the Congress regime. They have to answer to the country," Naidu told ANI.

"With regard to JNU, such things have been happening since many years," he added.

Speaking on the JNU row, he said that there was no question of closing a 'very prestigious university'.

"We will strengthen it further but anti-national comments will not be allowed. It can be used as a platform for pro-Pakistani elements. We are very clear about it," he said.

The Congress Party, which is all geared up to corner the government in the Budget Session of Parliament earlier alleged that the NDA regime was trying to saffronise the educational institutions of the country.

The government has, however, assured the Opposition that it is ready to discuss each and every issue in the Budget Session.

Leader of the Congress Party in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, said that they are going to raise eight to nine important issues, including the controversies surrounding the JNU, Hyderabad University PhD scholar Rohith Vemula's suicide and the FTII.

The Budget Session of Parliament will begin today with President Pranab Mukherjee's address to the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

During the session, the Rail Budget will be presented on February 25 and the General Budget on February 29.

The first phase of the Budget Session will come to an end on March 16 while the second phase will start from April 25 and conclude on May 13.

The government has prioritised 32 items for the session including 11 Bills pending in the Rajya Sabha and one in the Lok Sabha besides transacting financial business related to the budget.