If its first week was a washout, the Monsoon Session of Parliament resuming on Monday promises a continuation of the stand-off between the Modi government and the Opposition, especially the Congress and the Left Parties.
Over the weekend, the government’s parliamentary managers did not make any serious overtures to those who sit across the aisle. The Congress-led Opposition remains adamant that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the Chief Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje must step down before any discussion is allowed in the House.
On Sunday, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “arrogance and obduracy”, Deputy Leader of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma put the onus on the government for the functioning of Parliament.
Dismissing the BJP’s argument that the States cannot be discussed in Parliament, he said, “Equally important is that the Prime Minister takes cognisance of the Vyapam scam which cannot be termed a State issue as students and residents of many States are among those who have died under suspicious circumstances.”
On Monday, the Youth Congress will stage a protest outside Ms. Swaraj’s residence, another indication that the party is not relenting.
The BJP leadership, unwilling to concede any ground in the matter of resignations of its Ministers or Chief Ministers, has urged its members to counter the Opposition’s aggression with belligerence of its own. It wants them to continue with a targeted attack on the Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Veerbhadra Singh and Harsh Rawat, respectively, to isolate the party from the rest of the Opposition.
If last Thursday, the BJP moved a Privilege Motion against Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra for a Facebook post criticising the functioning of Parliament, the party has been issuing veiled threats that it may revive its campaign against him on serious issues, especially those relating to land deals.
Over the weekend, BJP leaders remained silent on whether they had a strategy to break the impasse, beyond their plan to wear the Opposition down.
On Sunday, Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh told PTI that the Congress alone was insisting on zero amendment to the 2013 law.
But with the deadline of the joint parliamentary panel on the Bill drawing near, the Biju Janata Dal and the Trinamool Congress have written to the panelthe Congress will submit its amendments on Monday.
