For the BJP-led NDA government, the Budget session that concluded on Friday should have brought cheer to its ranks given that it not only achieved a fair amount by way of legislative business, but that an Italian court fortuitously pronounced on the AgustaWestland case while it was in session: the latter afforded the government the opportunity to try and embarrass leaders of the predecessor Congress-led UPA government.
But the Congress winning its floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly and returning to power within six weeks of the Centre imposing President’s Rule in the hill State after the courts ordered a floor test there — all towards the end of the Budget session — cast a long shadow over the government’s achievement in Parliament.
On Friday, Deputy Leader of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma stressed while speaking to journalists outside Parliament, “The courts made it clear that they thought the actions of the government [in Uttarakhand] were unconstitutional.” Privately, many BJP MPs lamented the use of Article 356 without first permitting a floor test, saying it had damaged the party’s image and was a political setback for it.
Curiously, at the end of the Budget session, both the BJP-led NDA and the Congress claimed credit for the productivity of the two Houses of Parliament: the Lok Sabha passed 10 Bills, and the Rajya Sabha 12; the Lower House’s productivity was pegged at 117.58% while that of the Upper House at 86.68%. And of the Bills cleared by Parliament, two will further the economic reforms agenda — the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act.
Of course, in this session, the government neither opened fresh negotiations with the Congress on the controversial Goods and Services Tax Bill, nor did it even list it at all in this session.
Outreach paid off: NaqviIf Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi attributed the productivity to the government’s persistent outreach to the Opposition and other parties resulting in better functioning of Parliament, Mr. Sharma stressed that the Congress was playing the role of a constructive opposition and had therefore ensured the passage of so many Bills.
Mr. Sharma also pointed out that when the Congress-led UPA was in power, the BJP had been far more obstructive.
Even as the arithmetic in the Rajya Sabha — where the BJP does not have a majority — is set to change, with the government gaining at the expense of the Congress, it still may not be enough to get the GST Bill — a Constitution Amendment Bill that requires a two-thirds majority — through in the monsoon session: the Congress will continue to be the single largest party in the Upper House, even though the gap between the two will narrow.
