Here’s what to expect from the Indian Parliament this Monsoon Session

• The Monsoon Session of the Parliament commenced today and will have a sum total of 18 working days.
  
• While the proceedings will be derailed by a vote of no-confidence against the government, a number of key bills could be passed.
  
• Around 28 bills are slated for discussion, including the Triple Talaq Bill, the Women’s Reservation Bill and the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill.

The Budget Session of the Indian Parliament might have proved to be a washout, so here’s hoping that the short Monsoon Session, which started today and goes on till 10 August, doesn’t follow suit.

From the outset, it will be hard to get a lot done, given that the session has only 18 working days and a number of issues that are slated for discussion are mired in partisanship. But here’s what could be in store for the next few weeks.

The return of the no-confidence motion

Proceedings will be derailed again by a vote of no-confidence.

The no-confidence motion against the government in the last session didn’t get anywhere as a result of disorder in the House. Hence, a new one was moved by the Congress and Andhra Pradesh’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and is scheduled for discussion within the first hours of the session in Lok Sabha today itself after receiving more than 50 signatures. It will likely be debated within 10 days.

The TDP raised the motion in response to the government’s refusal to grant special category status to the state of Andhra Pradesh, following its split into two states in 2014. The party is seeking additional funding from the central government for its spending, saying that it had been given assurances in this regard.

Of course, the BJP won’t be too worried about the motion, other than the points raised in the debate which could lead to bad press. In order for the no-confidence motion to pass, it needs the support of the majority of the house. In the 539 member house, the BJP currently has 275 seats excluding those belonging it to its allies, so the motion will, in all probabilities, fail.

A lot of arguing

Barring the no-confidence motion, a lot of issues will be argued with varying degrees of anger and/or disagreement. With less than a year to go for the national elections, the Opposition will take any chance it can get to single out the government’s failures.

Blame for the recent spate of lynchings in Maharashtra as a result of the circulation of fake news on Whatsapp will be placed squarely on the ruling party in the state - the BJP. Other issues which will likely get significant airtime include the rise in fuel prices, the depreciation of the rupee, the build-up in bad loans, the dissolution of the government in Jammu & Kashmir and the non-feasibility of the minimum support price scheme.

Discussion on a number of key bills

Amidst all this arguing, the government will try and muster support for pending bills. Prior to the commencement of the session, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reached out to a number of leaders of Opposition parties, seeking their help for the passage of important bills.

Around 28 bills are slated for discussion in this session. These include the extremely contentious Triple Talaq Bill, the Women’s Reservation Bill, the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, the Transgender Rights Bill and amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and the Right to Information Act.

For its part, the BJP has reportedly said that it will pass the Women’s Reservation Bill, which reserves 33% of all seats in the Parliament and state assemblies for women, in exchange for the Congress’s help in passing the Muslim Women Bill, which bans the practices of instant divorce (triple talaq).

If the Congress does play ball and a fair degree of order is maintained, a lot of politically significant decisions could come out of this session. If not, well, we’ll just to have wait until the Winter Session to do this all over again.