Regional parties nudge Cong to strike truce with govt in RS

House takes up CAMPA Bill, to be passed on July 28

The government was on Wednesday helped by several regional parties to nudge the Congress to drop its insistence that Rajya Sabha take up a private members Bill on providing a special package for Andhra Pradesh. This, coupled with government’s backchannel talks with Congress leaders, led to a truce that not only allowed the House to transact normal business after two days of Congress disruptions but also take up the contentious compensatory afforestation Bill.

The rapprochement came about after Chairman Hamid Ansari called an all-party meeting. Senior Congress leaders relented in the face of government assurances that their concerns on key issues would be met. They also felt isolated, with several regional parties pointing out that they don’t support the Congress in holding the House hostage. 

On the compensatory afforestation Bill, the government assured the Congress that its suggestions would be included at the time of framing of rules of the Bill. The Congress, aware that it was in minority as regional parties supported the government on the issue, agreed to support the Bill in its current form. The Bill, once passed, will unlock Rs 42,000 crore to the states.

The truce has given the government hope of passing the goods and services tax (GST) constitutional amendment Bill next week. The Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the amended GST Bill. Already, five hours have been allocated for discussion on the Bill in the Rajya Sabha. “We are hopeful of introducing the GST Bill next week,” a government source said.

For the previous two days, the Congress had been accusing the government of disrupting Parliament “by design” to scuttle the private members Bill moved by Congress’ K V P Ramachandra Rao. At the meeting on Wednesday, Leader of the House Arun Jaitley put forward the government position that Rao’s Bill was a ‘money Bill’ and can only originate in the Lok Sabha.

According to sources, Congress leaders soon discovered that they had stirred a hornet’s nest by their demand for a special package for Andhra Pradesh. Janata Dal (United)’s Sharad Yadav said the House should also take up Bihar’s demand for a special package. Similar demands were made by leaders of regional parties, which run governments in West Bengal, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Telangana. 

It was agreed that the House will take up a general discussion on the need for special packages not just for Andhra Pradesh but also other states. In the evening, the House took up for discussion the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAMPA) Bill. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh opened the discussion. The Bill is likely to be passed on Thursday.

Ramesh said that the Bill, in its current form, ignored the Forest Rights Act of 2006, and that it empowers state governments and official but does not empower forest dwellers, tribals and gram sabhas. He, however, said that the Congress supported the Bill. Ramesh proposed an amendment that CAMPA funds be used only with the permission of gram sabhas.