Parliament was adjourned on the first day of a new session after opposition lawmakers demanded the resignation of leaders tainted by corruption allegations.
Members of the opposition Congress party yesterday stormed the well of the chamber in the Rajya Sabha, shouting slogans and forcing the speaker to halt proceedings. The house was adjourned for the day after repeated protests.
In the monsoon sitting of parliament, the government’s main goal is to ease the passage of the biggest overhaul of taxes since independence in 1947. All eyes are on the Rajya Sabha, where the government and its allies are a minority.
Modi is under pressure from the opposition to fire his foreign minister and a state leader amid claims they gave favours to a sports tycoon living in London who faces allegations of tax evasion.
Separately, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh governed by Modi’s party is on the defensive over the deaths of witnesses involved in a massive fraud in entrance exams for college and government jobs.
The tax bill has been passed in the Lok Sabha and got the support of a Rajya Sabha panel on Monday. But the government needs a two-thirds majority to make it law, which it will struggle to reach without Congress support.
