Budget session likely to be stormy; TMC may protest over demonetisation

New Delhi: Like the last Winter Session, the upcoming Budget session of Parliament also looks set to be stormy as an agitated Trinamool Congress is bent upon strongly protesting against the arrest of its two MPs besides demonetisation.

Giving a clear hint in this direction, Trinamool leader Derek O'Brien today said his party will surely agitate in Parliament against the "political vendetta" by the central government and demonetisation.

"A final decision will be taken by the Parliamentary Party (of Trinamool). But we will rake it up," he said when asked whether Trinamool will protest in Parliament against the arrest of its MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Pal by CBI in connection with Rose Valley scam case.

O'Brien, a Rajya Sabha member, went on to add that Trinamool will "consult all the 16 opposition parties like we did in the last session from November 16 to December 16". The Budget session begins on January 31.

During the last Winter session, Trinamool coordinated with parties like Congress, JD(U), Left and BSP to disrupt the proceedings over demonetisation and the session resulted in a washout.

Attacking the Modi dispensation over the arrest of Bandyopadhyay and Pal, O'Brien said, "Misusing of the agencies by the government of India to target us will only increase our resolve to fight for the common people."

Meanwhile, sources in Trinamool said the allegations against Bandyopadhyay were without any credibility and there was "no wrong doing" by him.

With regard to allegation of payoff of Rs 71 lakh to a school, the sources close to Bandyopadhyay, said as an MP, he had made a recommendation for admission of a student, whose parents may have later paid the "developmental charges" to the school like others.