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Budget session may also be washed out

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Cong To Take Up Graft Charges Against Guj CM
The budget session of Parliament faces a serious threat of washout, with the Congress indicating it would raise the allegations of corruption against Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel to corner Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Patel has been accused of favouring businessmen linked to her daughter in Gujarat, with the issue pertaining to the period when Modi was the CM and she held the revenue portfolio.
“The issue will be raised in Parliament because it has raised questions about the PM,“ Congress spokesman Anand Sharma said. He said Modi would have presided over the state cabinet meeting which cleared land allotments for the businessmen at throwaway prices.Along with Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula's suicide, graft charges against the Gujarat CM make for a potent combination for the opposition to corner the BJP. Adding to it is what Congress views as BJP's “deliberate provocation“ by attacking the Gandhi family like the PM's comment in an Assam rally on Friday where he accused the party leadership of blocking Parliament over its disappointment at the Lok Sabha defeat.
Retaliating to Modi's jibe, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said, “Job of the PM is to run the government and not make excuses. The PM has been making excuses for the last one-and-a-half years for not being able to deliver.“ The Congress heir apparent added, “Workers are crying, labo urers are crying, and what I don't
understand is that even industrialists are crying. Big industralists complain that Modi, who has been running the government for them, is unable to deliver even on
their agenda. So obviously , Modi will make excuses.“
The `Rahul vs Modi' faceoff in the run-up to the budget session has an ominous ring for the government. The last three sessions were virtual washouts, with little business or lawmaking. Key legislations like GST bill are stuck in the wake of deepening faultlines between the prinicipal political outfits. While the Centre has managed to run Lok Sabha, it has been badly hobbled in the upper House where Congress and allies overwhelm the government.
Rahul also accused the BJP of weakening “aam aadmi“ schemes started by the UPA. At a meeting of Congress state chiefs, he said these welfare measures should be monitored by local units and called for agitations at state level to pressure the governments.
Times, of India, New Delhi, 6th Feb. 2016

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