Parliament Ends With the Opposition Still in Disarray

NEW DELHI: The Opposition came out of Parliament after the budget session with a mixed bag of politics. And a realisation that while on some issues all the non-NDA parties could come together, this unity was at best splintered and could not even be expected to extend to the field outside.

After a show of strength on the attack on students that caught the government unawares, the opposition parties settled into their own respective grooves with floor coordination becoming more and more shaky towards the latter days of the budget session. Particularly insofar as the regional parties like the Samajwadi party, the Bahujan Samaj party, the Biju Janata Dal, the AIADMK, the Trinamool Congress were concerned as they followed their own tune, and were not particularly amenable to suggestions from the larger political parties to keep together on key issues.

For instance, on the Aadhaar Bill that the government introduced as a money bill in the Lok Sabha thereby limiting the Rajya Sabha’s role, the regional parties were not willing to go along with the Left and the Congress on all amendments. This was of course, at best a moral victory but nevertheless a point that the Left was particularly keen on making. However, after supporting an amendment or two, most of the regional parties walked out, unwilling to stay the course on the issue.

This was in sharp contrast to the start of the session when the JNU and HCU issues reverberated through Parliament, and all the opposition parties came together to chastise the government for being anti-student. As Parliament proceeded the unity started falling apart, with a core block of Congress, Left, Janata Dal(U), and the DMK emerging as the cohesive nucleus of what its members still hope will be the glue for the others at some point in time.

Sources said that most of the regional parties who stayed are also worried about cases that can be slapped on them by the government. A senior leader insisted that it was this “apprehension” as he put it, that had made Mulayam Singh completely redundant in the Rajya Sabha and while Mayawati did come out fighting on the Rohith Vemula issue, she has steadfastly refused to join hands with the other Opposition parties.

However, this claim was contested sharply bya couple of other MPs who said that it was difficult for any of the smaller regional parties running the states to join hands with the Congress at this stage. But when asked to name the political parties that will not have truck with the Congress, they could name only the BJD that has taken a formal anti-BJP, anti-Congress position.

The Left has shifted its position considerably since the Bihar elections to open the door for the Congress. There have been talks between the Left front and the Congress for an understanding in West Bengal, but this has not been formalised despite some effort. There is instead considerable confusion with the state units of both parties confused about the alliance, more so as both seem to have laid claim to the same constituencies. Currently, there are reports that the Congress is not willing to severe relations with the Trinamool Congress even while it wants to cement relations with the Left. The last has to do more with the personal relationship between the Gandhi family and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, while sections of the Congress old guard are still looking at Mamata Banerjee for an alliance.

In Assam the Left is contesting the forthcoming elections on its own, as is the Congress party currently. In Tamil Nadu that is also scheduled to go to the polls the glimmerings of a DMK-Congress-Left alliance against the AIADMK are visible. In Punjab the Congress will be in a battle with the Aam Aadmi party and the BJP, with the Left contesting a few seats on its own.

Uttar Pradesh remains the big election next year, with the BJP having drawn the battlelines and the opposition still in disarray. Both the BJP and the Congress are likely to woo the BSP with Mayawati currently keeping both at bay. Mulayam Singh is not being seen as anyone’s favourite with his government losing support fast. The Congress, from all accounts, is looking to revive itself through UP but despite hiring a master strategist of Gujarat and Bihar fame, its strategy still remains unformulated. It is learnt that Prashant Kishor has suggested the Congress find a Brahmin face for the Chief Minister to revive its base amongst the upper castes. And that Priyanka Gandhi be asked to campaign in the state, a suggestion that has been received with stony silence from 10 Janpath according to sources.

The forthcoming elections, thus, do not offer an opportunity for the political opposition to the BJP to coalesce except in West Bengal where currently confusion prevails, and later in UP where all the main stakeholders are looking to revive and hold on to political fortunes. Parliament thus has ended, on a dimmer role than it began, without an Opposition strategy for a plan for joint and united action.