Demonetisation: Congress, BJP gear up for debate in Parliament after break; whips issued

The Congress and the BJP issued whips on Tuesday asking their party MPs to be present in both Houses for the rest of the session.

The discussion on demonetisation may be stopped under Rule 193 and instead it will be done under no-rule discussion as there are only three days left in the Winter session. However, it may not be enough for all the pending bills to get cleared in this session, since the whole session has been stormy with the Opposition demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi to appear and talk to them about the new monetary policy.   

"It could be a trap...Jaitley speaks at length and then when the Opposition tries to speak, their 300 MPs disrupt," a source said. "Then the whole point of making our voices heard on demonetisation will be lost. The final decision will be taken at the meeting on Wednesday."

However, it may also happen that the discussion would continue after a three-day holiday as queues outside banks elongated and cash ran out quickly. 

In Delhi, people braved the cold winters to stand in queues. 

"The pressure was huge... more currency is needed. There is a big demand and supply mismatch with 500 notes... there are more 2000-rupee notes which is a problem," said a senior official of State Bank of India.

In Chandni Chowk, the police was present at ATMs and banks for security. 

Also, the Opposition and the ruling party are at loggerheads over who should speak first. Rahul Gandhi has indicated that he will be present in Parliament on Wednesday. He had earlier said that if he speaks there will be earthquake. 

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been chosen by the BJP to initiate a discussion. Jaitley had said the Congress was uncomfortable with demonetisation and scams that took place in Congress era were raised over and over. 

The GST may not be mentioned in this session and a special two-day session may be initiated just to discuss it.