Today in Politics: With Parliament set to discuss Ram Temple, how will Opposition respond?

The Budget Session of Parliament concludes on Saturday, with both Houses set to pass a resolution thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for overseeing the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, which was inaugurated on January 22. A long-held ideological goal of the BJP, the temple is expected to play a major role in the party’s messaging for the coming Lok Sabha elections.

With BJP MP Satya Pal Singh and Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Eknath Shinde set to open the discussion on the temple, it has to be seen how the Opposition parties react given that most of the top INDIA bloc leaders, including from the Congress, either stayed away from the event or were silent on the issue.

Besides the resolution, the Rajya Sabha will also take up discussions on the White Paper on the Indian economy before and after the BJP came to power on Saturday, as reported by Liz Mathew. The paper has become a flashpoint between the BJP and the Congress, with the ruling party set to build a narrative for the elections around the 59-page document tabled in Parliament on Thursday.

On Saturday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to arrive in Karnataka to attend a party workers’ meeting, among other events. Shah’s visit comes at a time when the BJP and JD(S) are in the final stages of seat-sharing talks for the Lok Sabha elections, as reported by Akram M. There remain some questions over which seats members of the JD(S) first family will contest.

In Uttar Pradesh, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) led by Jat leader Jayant Chaudhary, whose grandfather and former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna on Friday, has hinted at a pact with BJP in western UP.

The BJP’s minority cell, meanwhile, will launch a “Quami Chaupal” campaign