NEW DELHI: Upset over the statements made by ministers and BJP leaders about the LoP row, the Cong on Monday seemed to be in a mood to stall the Telecom Regulatory of India Amendment (TRIA) Ordinance, 2014, using the edge it has over the NDA govt in the Rajya Sabha.
The ordinance was promulgated on May 28 to allow the Centre to appoint former TRAI chairman Nripendra Mishra as Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The TRAI Act earlier prohibited its retired chairmen or members to take up government jobs before a mandatory “cooling-off period” of two years. The ordinance removed the legal hurdle to Mishra’s appointment to the top job in the the Prime Minister’s Office.
MoS Parliamentary Affairs Santosh Gangwar had introduced the TRAI (Amendment) Bill, replacing the ordinance, during the last special session of Parliament as its passage is high on the Centre’s agenda.
And the sparring over the Leader of the Opposition post worsened on Monday, with in Congress sources saying that the party “will ensure the TRAI Ordinance does not get through”. The NDA has an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha but is a minority in the Rajya Sabha.
The Sonia Gandhi-led Congress strategy group, of which former PM Manmohan Singh and the party’s parliamentary leaders are members, on Saturday took a decision to give adjournment motion notices on a number of issues, including the curtailing of powers of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.