Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with opposition leaders on February 15 and the all-party meeting called by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari on Saturday to discuss the functioning of the budget session of Parliament had a familiar ring to it.
The opposition demanded a discussion on a host of issues, especially the Jawaharlal Nehru University row, and the National Democratic Alliance government agreed to do so on a priority basis. Both sides then agreed that Parliament should function smoothly and important legislation must be passed.
The same drill is witnessed at every meeting convened on every session eve, irrespective of the party in power. The opposition promises its unstinted cooperation at these meetings, but it’s a different story when Parliament commences.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies disrupted proceedings when the United Progressive Alliance government was in power. The Congress promptly hit back after it was relegated to the opposition benches in 2014. It has not allowed any worthwhile business to be conducted in the last two sessions.
With the budget session set to open on Tuesday, the question being debated by the opposition camp is: Should it allow Parliament to function or should there be a replay of the past?
Uncomfortable questions
While a section of opposition parties wants to register its protest by disrupting proceedings, it is also being argued that this will actually help the Modi government since it will not have to answer uncomfortable questions on sensitive issues like the ailing economy, inflation, farmers suicide, and the attack on Indian universities.
Mohammad Salim, a Lok Sabha MP of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), maintained that the government had deliberately whipped up passions on an emotive issue like nationalism to deflect attention from its failure to revive the economy and contain the price of essential commodities. He said the opposition can put the government in the dock while participating in the debate on the motion of thanks to the President which is a referendum on the government’s functioning.
The Congress party, which took the lead in disrupting proceedings in the past, is slated to discuss its strategy at a specially-convened meeting of the party’s working committee on Monday.
Striking a belligerent note, Janata Dal (United) Rajya Sabha MP KC Tyagi declared, “Let me tell you, it will be a stormy session… given the recent developments, it cannot be smooth sailing for the government.”
The opposition, he said, is exercised over the crackdown on protesting JNU students and the government attempt to portray them as subversive elements, the attack on media persons by lawyers at Patiala House, and the government’s handling of Rohith Vemula’s suicide, which has put the spotlight on the discrimination faced by Dalits in universities.
“The conduct of the government is such that it is giving us issues to raise in the session,” said Salim.
Government's intolerance
Although financial business gets priority in the budget session, the opposition wants to highlight issues like the agrarian crisis, the terrorist attack on the Pathankot airbase, the poor state of the economy, price rise, the Arunachal Pradesh crisis, the Jat agitation in Haryana, and the allotment of land to the business associates of Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel’s daughter allegedly at throwaway prices.
From all accounts, the JNU row is set to dominate this session as it has united the opposition, with the Congress joining hands with the Left parties, the Janata Dal (U) and the Nationalist Congress Party on this issue. Given the prevailing mood on both sides of the political divide, a discussion on the JNU developments is bound to trigger an all-out war between the enraged opposition and an unrepentant BJP.
Accusing the Modi government of intolerant attitude, the opposition has charged that the move to slap sedition charges on JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and the subsequent violence in Patiala House is yet another attempt by the ruling alliance to crush dissent and curb freedom of expression. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be asked to respond to their charges, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani will be in the line of fire for their handling of the JNU row and the Rohith Vemula episode.
While the opposition is gearing up to corner the ruling alliance, the BJP maintains it has no reason to be apologetic on the JNU issue. It is, therefore, planning to go on the offensive both in and outside the Parliament. It believes it has succeeded in turning around the public mood in its favour by portraying the opposition as “anti-national” for supporting the JNU students.
While admitting the BJP’s move to appropriate the nationalist plank had pushed them on the back foot initially, the opposition parties believe the tide turned against the ruling party after the attacks on media persons in Patiala House and the government’s failure to take action against the attackers. “The Patiala House incidents have changed the narrative,” remarked a senior Congress leader. “We are now in a better position as the focus is now on the violence… it is being seen as a blatant attempt by the government to crush its critics.”
Each side is convinced that it will win the final argument. The outcome will be known soon.
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