Bypassing Rajya Sabha dangerous trend: Congress

The Congress, noting that the government had introduced Aadhaar bill as money bill to "bypass" Rajya Sabha, on Friday said this was a "dangerous trend."

"I think this is a very dangerous trend. The government has taken this to bypass the Rajya Sabha. This is an assault on the upper house of parliament. The Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha are two equal wheels of the same chariot of Indian democracy," said party leader Jairam Ramesh, noting several senior ministers in the government were from the Rajya Sabha.

He said Congress had "adequate grounds" to believe that Aadhaar bill was not a money bill.

The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016, was passed by parliament in the budget session after amendments suggested by Rajya Sabha were rejected by the Lok Sabha.

Party leader Anand Sharma, who also interacted with the media, accused the the government of lack of coordination ahead of the visit of a joint investigation team from Pakistan to probe the terror attack in Pathankot.