 "Opposition corners govt on ex-serviceman suicide")
The portents of a smooth winter session of Parliament, scheduled to begin on November 16 and slated to take up the goods and services tax (GST)-related Bills as its major legislative agenda, look doubtful with each passing day.
On Wednesday, the Narendra Modi government found itself cornered by the Opposition parties, particularly Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, over the suicide of a 70-year-old ex-serviceman.
Ram Kishan Grewal, a prominent voice of the One Rank One Pension (OROP) agitation, ended his life allegedly upset about non-fulfilment of the government’s promise to implement the scheme.
Grewal, who hailed from Haryana’s Bhiwani district, ended his life on Tuesday evening in the lawns behind Jawahar Bhavan, that houses the ministry of external affairs and is located on Janpath. Police said Grewal, along with three companions, had come to the city to submit a memorandum to the defence ministry.
The Modi government has been trying politically exploit the ‘surgical strikes’ the Indian Army carried out on September 29 in the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh elections. Grewal’s suicide and the subsequent events, where his family was detained by Delhi Police and even allegedly beaten up, might have given an opportunity for Gandhi and others to embarrass the Modi government.
Several Opposition leaders issued statements criticising the government's “high handedness”. Gandhi was stopped from reaching the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital where Grewal’s body was kept. Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was also detained by the police. Later, Gandhi reached the police station and videos of his heated arguments with the cops, where he rebuked them for beating up the son and father of Grewal, went viral on Twitter.