With the numbers favouring the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, the government can either accept the Opposition demand to send the triple talaq legislation to a select committee, or to let the impasse continue given that there are just two more working days in the Winter Session of Parliament.
The government was caught on a wrong foot on Wednesday, as the Congress and Trinamool Congress TMC), who till recently have been giving each other the cold shoulder, moved in sync. Both parties moved an identical resolution to constitute a select committee, with a list of members for such a committee. Leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitely, too, noted that the notices took them [the government] by “surprise”.
The Opposition had another ace up its sleeve in having BJP ally the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) join it on the resolution for the select committee list as well.
The Opposition has over 140 members on its side in the Rajya Sabha. The BJP, on the other hand, has only 65 members, which includes 57 of its own MPs.
“They need to bow to the numbers. In the Lok Sabha, they bulldoze on the strength of numbers and in the Rajya Sabha, they refuse to recognise the numerical majority of the Opposition,” said Leader of Opposition and Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad. The other option for the government is to allow the impasse to continue and to maintain that the Opposition is anti-Muslim women.
