JNU row set to cast its shadow on Budget Session

New Delhi - Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said there was a general consensus that Parliament should run smoothly.

The JNU row is set to cast a shadow on the coming Budget Session as the opposition on Tuesday raised questions on the issue at a meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ensuring smooth running of Parliament but Congress put the ball in government's court.
In the first-ever exercise initiated by Modi against the backdrop of repeated stalling of sessions, the Prime Minister reached out to them, seeking their cooperation saying "I am not the Prime Minister of BJP alone but the entire country".He expressed the hope that Parliament will function and assured opposition parties that the government will work to address their concerns.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said there was a general consensus that Parliament should run smoothly. The session begins from February 23.Tuesday's meeting was dominated by the JNU issue with the Congress and the Left questioning the filing of sedition case against JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar.
They also wanted the government to rein in BJP leaders and those holding the constitutional posts who are "vitiating" the atmosphere in the country.
Opposition leaders gave notice that they will raise issues like JNU, Arunachal crisis and the suicide of a Dalit scholar in Hyderabad Central University and farmers' problems.Briefing media after the meeting, Naidu said the Prime Minister said the government was open to discussion on all issues."We will respond to the issues raised by the opposition and address them... I hope the congenial mood here will be translated into action in Parliament," Modi told the meeting.
Also Read:JNU row: Protestors raise slogans demanding varsity shutdown
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad made it clear that his party "disassociates" with students who shouted slogans at the JNU against India's unity and Constitution but insisted that there was no proof of sedition against Kanhaiya Kumar. The Left parties concurred with him.  Azad also accused the BJP leaders of "defaming" the party leadership with their "anti-national" jibes and said the government should restrain them.
 He told the media after the two-hour meeting that the atmosphere in the country has been vitiated since the BJP came to power and its government has taken no action against people responsible for it.
"His arrest on the sedition charge is unfair... Action should also have been taken against those who vitiated the country's atmosphere."If people holding the constitutional positions are vitiating the atmosphere in the country, then it will find a reflection in Parliament. Had action been taken against them, then many things which we see today would not be happening," he said.
Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley explained the government's position on the JNU row and spoke about the slogans and posters related to the controversial event, calling them highly objectionable.He said the implications of the JNU incident should be unbderstood properly. He asked whether any political party can endorse the slogans made at the so-called protest meet in JNU and every one should await the inquiry report in the matter.
Also Read:Journalists take to streets to protest assault
Naidu shared the opposition leaders' concern over use of terms like "anti-national" but he referred to the 'Hitler' jibe made against the PM and said all parties should show restraint.He said all parties spoke in one voice that Parliament should function.
"Frustration is rising among people due to stalemate in Parliament... Issues are not being debated," he said.
In a veiled dig at Congress, he said the opposition party spoke about the atmosphere in the country but other parties said there should be no "ifs and buts" and Parliament should function.
The Parliamentary Affairs Minister said the government is willing to walk the extra mile in accommodating the opposition.The meeting also saw Trinamool Congress pushing for the passage of the GST bill, Naidu said.
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Letter shows JNU VC allowed police on campus
The internal communication to Delhi police from the JNU administration has revealed that the force was granted permission to enter the campus as they "may deem fit", contradicting the Vice Chancellor's stand that he did not call police to the premises.
The letter dated February 11, a day ahead of the arrest of JNU students union President Kanhaiya Kumar, reads, "The Vice Chancellor has granted permission to the police force to enter JNU campus if need be and as you may deem fit."VC Jagdesh Kumar had on Monday claimed that he did not give a free hand to police to come on campus and pick up students.
"I never invited the police to enter the campus and pick our students. We only provided whatever cooperation was needed as per the law of land. We were bound to do so," he had told reporters.
The letter, by varsity Registrar Bhupinder Zutshi to DCP South, was sent in response to the two communications sent by police to the university asking them to rectify the faulty CCTV cameras and "produce six students for joining the investigation of the case".
Meanwhile, the students continued to boycott classes in protest against the alleged "mishandling" of the issue by university administration questioning the administration's decision to allow the police "crackdown" on campus. They were joined by some teachers on Tuesday who also demanded an explanation from the VC for the same.
When asked about the two contradicting stands, a senior varsity official said, "the letter was an assurance of cooperation as per the law of land. Understanding the concerns of the students about the security deployment on campus, we had raised the issue with police officials and there has been no deployment inside the campus since then".
The varsity has also stated in the letter to police, "security has been briefed to make use of present CCTV cameras and cell phone cameras to record any such incident. The repairing of non-functional CCTV cameras and laying of optical fibre cable for better connectivity of surveillance systems in progress.
Four Deans of JNU had also written to the VC last week to convey their protest against the manner in which students are being compared to "terrorists" and picked up from campus by policemen in plain clothes.
The clamour grew on campus demanding release of Kanhaiya who was arrested last week in connection with a case of sedition and criminal conspiracy registered over holding of the event at the varsity during which anti-India slogans were alleged to have been raised.

• India