The National Democratic Alliance government’s determined efforts to secure the passage of the controversial Land Acquisition Bill through a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament could hit a roadblock if the Bharatiya Janata Party’s allies – the Shiv Sena and the Shiromani Akali Dal – remain resolute in their opposition to the legislation.
A look at the composition of the two Houses of Parliament shows that the BJP’s floor managers will have to be on their toes to muster the numbers in a joint sitting. They have to make sure that all the party’s partners and those sympathetic to it – like the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Telangana Rashtriya Samithi – do not defect to the opposition camp. Already, the Biju Janata Dal, which has been known to go along with the Modi government on most issues, has declared that it will not support the land bill.
Since the combined strength of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha is 784 members, the ruling alliance needs the support of 393 members to cross the half-way mark in a joint sitting. The BJP has 327 members on its own in the two Houses. It, therefore, needs to win over 66 more MPs to ensure the smooth passage of the land bill. It is imperative that the 21 members of the Shiv Sena, the seven-member Akali Dal, the Telugu Desam Party’s 22 MPs and the People Democratic Party’s five members stand with the government.
The ruling alliance will be in deep trouble if the Akali Dal and the Shiv Sena are not brought around. Both these NDA allies have firmly stated that they will not be voting with the government on the land bill. The Akali Dal has even passed a resolution opposing the contentious legislation.
In such an event, the government will be heavily dependent on the 48 members of the AIADMK, whose leader J Jayalalithaa is known to drive a hard bargain. In addition, the BJP will have to do business with a host of one-man parties like the Kerala Congress and the Nagaland People’s Front as well as independent members to be able to register a victory. As numbers go, the government may be able to scrape through with the help of the AIADMK and the others, but it realises that it will not be politically expedient to do so as it could put further strain on its ties with its allies.
House in order
Well aware that it faces an uphill task, the Modi government has used the long Holi weekend to reach out to its allies and the opposition parties. BJP insiders maintain that senior leaders have been deputed to talk to different parties in an effort to forge a consensus. Union Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari has been asked to mollify the Shiv Sena in view of his close links with the party in his home state Maharashtra. Similarly, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is to speak to the Akali Dal and the Congress.
But before it builds bridges with the opposition, it is important for the BJP to placate its allies to be able to present a united front. It can hardly approach the opposition for support if its own house is not in order. Even its own ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, is learnt to have conveyed its reservations to the party about the amended land bill on the ground that the legislation has sent out a message that the BJP is acting against the farmers’ interests and is favouring the corporates. This message was delivered to BJP president Amit Shah when he met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in Nagpur on Friday.
Opposition parties maintained that no BJP minister had been in touch with them so far. “The government is not serious about consulting opposition parties,” Janata Dal (United) leader KC Tyagi told Scroll.in. “Nobody has met us and no formula has been sent for our consideration. If Prime Minister Modi wants this bill to be passed, he should call an all-party meeting and place his suggestions before them.”
Tyagi, who is coordinating with other parties on the land bill, said a united opposition will not allow the land, insurance and the coal bills to be passed in the Rajya Sabha. He said the Akali Dal and the Biju Janata Dal had conveyed their support to the opposition on the land bill.
The land bill has been listed for passage in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The bill will be cleared in the lower house since the BJP-led NDA government enjoys a massive majority there but it will run into trouble in the Rajya Sabha where the numbers do not favour the ruling alliance. The government can call a joint sitting of the two houses if the bill is defeated in the Upper House or if it is kept pending for over six months.
Modi under pressure
Realising that the government could take advantage of these rules to push for a joint sitting of Parliament, the opposition’s effort will be to block the bill or have it referred to a parliamentary panel for further scrutiny. This would effectively thwart the NDA government’s efforts to pass the legislation at the earliest. Modi is in a hurry to push through his reforms agenda in keeping with his electoral promise to improve the economy and open it up for foreign investments.
Finding itself in a jam, the government has said it is willing to tweak the land bill provided its core remains unaffected. Modi himself struck a conciliatory note in Parliament in his reply to the motion of thanks to the President’s address, saying his government is open to suggestions if the bill contains any clauses that hurt the interests of farmers. It is mulling placing a limit on the land which can be acquired for rural roads and infrastructure without the mandatory social impact assessment and consent of owners whose land is to be acquired. However, this is the government’s last resort as its first effort is to get the bill passed without any changes.
The opposition, however, remains unmoved. It has got an opportunity to embarrass the government and it is unlikely to let go of it. Just as the BJP’s communal agenda had brought together the disparate opposition parties on a common platform in the winter session, the land bill has become a rallying point for them in this session. None of them can afford to lower their guard on this issue given its political ramifications.
Next week will be crucial for the government as the bills passed in the Lok Sabha are to be taken up in the Rajya Sabha for clearance. It is not just the land bill which is in jeopardy, but also the Mines and Minerals Bill and the Motor Vehicles Bill that will face rough weather in the Upper House.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India’s D Raja, Subbirammi Reddy of the Congress and Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien have moved statutory resolutions disapproving these bills, which have already been passed by the Lok Sabha. Given the opposition numbers, the resolutions will be carried, putting the government in a fresh fix. Similarly, the opposition will raise objections when the insurance bill is brought to the Upper House on the ground that the old bill is already pending.
Clearly, the Modi government has its task cut out as it braces for a face-off with the numerically stronger opposition in the Upper House.
A look at the composition of the two Houses of Parliament shows that the BJP’s floor managers will have to be on their toes to muster the numbers in a joint sitting. They have to make sure that all the party’s partners and those sympathetic to it – like the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Telangana Rashtriya Samithi – do not defect to the opposition camp. Already, the Biju Janata Dal, which has been known to go along with the Modi government on most issues, has declared that it will not support the land bill.
Since the combined strength of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha is 784 members, the ruling alliance needs the support of 393 members to cross the half-way mark in a joint sitting. The BJP has 327 members on its own in the two Houses. It, therefore, needs to win over 66 more MPs to ensure the smooth passage of the land bill. It is imperative that the 21 members of the Shiv Sena, the seven-member Akali Dal, the Telugu Desam Party’s 22 MPs and the People Democratic Party’s five members stand with the government.
The ruling alliance will be in deep trouble if the Akali Dal and the Shiv Sena are not brought around. Both these NDA allies have firmly stated that they will not be voting with the government on the land bill. The Akali Dal has even passed a resolution opposing the contentious legislation.
In such an event, the government will be heavily dependent on the 48 members of the AIADMK, whose leader J Jayalalithaa is known to drive a hard bargain. In addition, the BJP will have to do business with a host of one-man parties like the Kerala Congress and the Nagaland People’s Front as well as independent members to be able to register a victory. As numbers go, the government may be able to scrape through with the help of the AIADMK and the others, but it realises that it will not be politically expedient to do so as it could put further strain on its ties with its allies.
House in order
Well aware that it faces an uphill task, the Modi government has used the long Holi weekend to reach out to its allies and the opposition parties. BJP insiders maintain that senior leaders have been deputed to talk to different parties in an effort to forge a consensus. Union Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari has been asked to mollify the Shiv Sena in view of his close links with the party in his home state Maharashtra. Similarly, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is to speak to the Akali Dal and the Congress.
But before it builds bridges with the opposition, it is important for the BJP to placate its allies to be able to present a united front. It can hardly approach the opposition for support if its own house is not in order. Even its own ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, is learnt to have conveyed its reservations to the party about the amended land bill on the ground that the legislation has sent out a message that the BJP is acting against the farmers’ interests and is favouring the corporates. This message was delivered to BJP president Amit Shah when he met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in Nagpur on Friday.
Opposition parties maintained that no BJP minister had been in touch with them so far. “The government is not serious about consulting opposition parties,” Janata Dal (United) leader KC Tyagi told Scroll.in. “Nobody has met us and no formula has been sent for our consideration. If Prime Minister Modi wants this bill to be passed, he should call an all-party meeting and place his suggestions before them.”
Tyagi, who is coordinating with other parties on the land bill, said a united opposition will not allow the land, insurance and the coal bills to be passed in the Rajya Sabha. He said the Akali Dal and the Biju Janata Dal had conveyed their support to the opposition on the land bill.
The land bill has been listed for passage in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The bill will be cleared in the lower house since the BJP-led NDA government enjoys a massive majority there but it will run into trouble in the Rajya Sabha where the numbers do not favour the ruling alliance. The government can call a joint sitting of the two houses if the bill is defeated in the Upper House or if it is kept pending for over six months.
Modi under pressure
Realising that the government could take advantage of these rules to push for a joint sitting of Parliament, the opposition’s effort will be to block the bill or have it referred to a parliamentary panel for further scrutiny. This would effectively thwart the NDA government’s efforts to pass the legislation at the earliest. Modi is in a hurry to push through his reforms agenda in keeping with his electoral promise to improve the economy and open it up for foreign investments.
Finding itself in a jam, the government has said it is willing to tweak the land bill provided its core remains unaffected. Modi himself struck a conciliatory note in Parliament in his reply to the motion of thanks to the President’s address, saying his government is open to suggestions if the bill contains any clauses that hurt the interests of farmers. It is mulling placing a limit on the land which can be acquired for rural roads and infrastructure without the mandatory social impact assessment and consent of owners whose land is to be acquired. However, this is the government’s last resort as its first effort is to get the bill passed without any changes.
The opposition, however, remains unmoved. It has got an opportunity to embarrass the government and it is unlikely to let go of it. Just as the BJP’s communal agenda had brought together the disparate opposition parties on a common platform in the winter session, the land bill has become a rallying point for them in this session. None of them can afford to lower their guard on this issue given its political ramifications.
Next week will be crucial for the government as the bills passed in the Lok Sabha are to be taken up in the Rajya Sabha for clearance. It is not just the land bill which is in jeopardy, but also the Mines and Minerals Bill and the Motor Vehicles Bill that will face rough weather in the Upper House.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India’s D Raja, Subbirammi Reddy of the Congress and Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien have moved statutory resolutions disapproving these bills, which have already been passed by the Lok Sabha. Given the opposition numbers, the resolutions will be carried, putting the government in a fresh fix. Similarly, the opposition will raise objections when the insurance bill is brought to the Upper House on the ground that the old bill is already pending.
Clearly, the Modi government has its task cut out as it braces for a face-off with the numerically stronger opposition in the Upper House.
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