Two events this week bode well for the National Democratic Alliance government in Parliament.
The first was the swearing-in of the BJP’s tribal nominee Sampatiya Uikey as a Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh, breaking the Congress’s 65-year position as the single largest party in the Upper House. Second, with M. Venkaiah Naidu voted in as Vice-President, presiding officers of both Houses have a BJP background.
The BJP now has 58 members in the Rajya Sabha, one more than the Congress’s.
The two developments, in fact, may go a long way in assuaging tempers in the BJP that flared after 31 NDA members went missing when the crucial OBC Bill — a Constitution amendment Bill — was put to vote earlier this week, and the Opposition managed to get an amendment to it cleared.
Growing numbers
Mr. Naidu may be stepping into the Vice-President’s office at a rather fortuitous time for the ruling party. The NDA will be progressively improving its numbers position in the Upper House. It can already count 10 Janata Dal(U) MPs as part of its kitty after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar walked out of the “grand alliance” in Bihar and into a coalition with the BJP in the State.
In April, the party will see at least eight of its party men in a position to get elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh.
The challenge for Mr. Naidu will be different. In a scenario where all the top constitutional positions are now held by members from a single ideological family as Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to it in his speech on Friday evening, he will have to do a delicate balancing act in the heavily contested space that the Rajya Sabha has become.
With the Opposition heavily outnumbered in the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha has become the theatre of oppositional politics. Mr. Naidu will not only have to handle this fierce tug of war but also engender a feeling of bipartisanship in his dealings.
He seems conscious of this, saying, “I am a non-party man, a majority of the political parties are supporting me.”
In his speech while unveiling two volumes on Mr. Naidu’s speeches and writings, Mr. Modi put it rather succinctly: “At some point of time, I was a secretary in the BJP, he was my national president, then I became Prime Minister and he became a Cabinet colleague. Now he will be Vice-President. Time gives us many roles and we have to fulfil them. I have been noticing that since his nomination, he is not moving about as the Venkaiah Naidu we know, but a little diffidently, as this post is constitutional and above party lines. I have no doubt he will overcome this and take to the job.”
The challenge for Mr. Naidu stems from just these words.
