New Delhi, Dec. 7: The Opposition today kept the government guessing about its Parliament strategy for tomorrow even as mixed signals emerged from the treasury benches, with one minister reaching out and another daring the rival bloc to a debate.
Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar said he had called up a couple of Opposition leaders, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked party MPs to go on the offensive on the demonetisation drive.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley, however, accused the Opposition of shifting the goalposts every day to avoid a discussion.
The 15 Opposition parties had first agreed on a black-band protest at Mahatma Gandhi's statue outside the Parliament House tomorrow, but sources said a final call would be taken in the morning depending upon what the government offers to break the deadlock.
"Whatever we do inside Parliament, we shall do together," Trinamul's leader in the Rajya Sabha, Derek O'Brien, told this paper. "December 8 marks one month since the draconian demonetisation (move) was announced. Wait and watch," he added. "Opposition parties want a discussion. It is the BJP which is stalling (Parliament). It is the government's responsibility to run Parliament."
The Opposition is battling with two views - one line of thought wants the discussion on demonetisation to resume in both Houses so that every party gets its say in the hope of nailing the government on questions it has not answered yet.
But others - especially Trinamul and the Samajwadi Party - are learnt to be in favour of continuing with the protests inside the House till next week so that the discussion could be pushed to the fag end of the session and then carry forward that momentum onto the streets.
There appeared to be a sliver of hope of a breakthrough In the Rajya Sabha this morning when leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad posed five pointed questions to the finance minister.
♦ Who will be accountable for those who have lost their lives due to the note ban?
♦ Why did the government "demonetise" if all the money was expected to be returned to banks, as suggested by the revenue secretary?
♦ Why has the RBI stopped releasing data over the past 10 days on the quantum of demonetised currency that has returned?
♦ Why are the banks unable to give cash as per the stipulated withdrawal limits if they have funds, as claimed by the government?
♦ Why was the government trying to drive a wedge between the haves and have-nots?
Jaitley did not answer the queries in his brief intervention but dared the Opposition to a debate. "If the Opposition has the guts, then I dare you to resume the discussion right away," he said.
His aggressive stance - that he repeated again in the afternoon - made the TRS's Keshav Rao wonder why the minister had lost his composure.
In the morning, it was the treasury benches that took the lead in sloganeering - something that was taken note of by the Chair too - but, by afternoon, both sides were trying to drown each other with slogans.
As the Opposition went into a huddle for the second time today to strategise for tomorrow, Kumar remained optimistic about a breakthrough.
Asked about indications that the Opposition would stage a black-band protest at the Gandhi statue outside Parliament House before the two chambers convened for the day, he said: "We are only concerned with what happens inside the House."
Information and broadcasting minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, however, took a swipe at the Opposition for planning a black-band protest, saying: "They want to protest against demonetisation which seeks to attack black money by wearing black... good."
For their part, most of the Opposition parties have time and again maintained that they were not protesting against the demonetisation decision but its unplanned implementation.
With the session now into its slog overs, and with no headway on the GST front, BJP veteran L.K. Advani's comment that Parliament should be adjourned sine die triggered a buzz that the government might opt for this route by Friday.
Naidu, however, said there were no such plans.
