BJP counteroffensive in Parliament; Opposition vows unity

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By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, March 13: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday had bared the strategy of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the second half of the Budget session amid full indication that the Opposition will force a full washout of the remainder of the session. Modi had hit out at former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for remarks made in London on the state of affairs of Indian democracy.

Modi’s deputy in the Lok Sabha and the Union Minister for Defence Rajnath Singh set the tone for the second half of the Budget session by calling for an apology from Gandhi. Leader of the Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal made similar demand in the Upper House. Both the leaders ensured that the two Houses of Parliament plunged into pandemonium.

The BJP counteroffensive was in response to 16 Opposition parties firming up their bids to turn heat on the ruling BJP over the Adani issue and the raids by the investigative agencies against their leaders. The 16 Opposition parties broadly covered the whole spectrum of the non-BJP political parties barring the Trinamool Congress, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

While the ruling BJD in Odisha maintains equidistance from both the BJP and Congress, the TMC and BRS stay away from Congress, driven by the respective state politics. The 16 Opposition parties will meet again on Tuesday morning to strategise for their course of actions.

By convention the treasury benches are not seen disrupting the proceedings of Parliament. But the BJP has a few years ago broke ranks with the convention after party MPs have been seen on several occasions causing pandemonium to disrupt the two Houses of Parliament.

Political observers concur that the second half of the Budget session may fail to transact any business except passing the demands for grants of the ministries and the Union Budget. Scope of discussions in the two Houses look miniscule, as the treasury and the Opposition benches remain girded up for battle of lungs.

The Opposition parties are seen riled up with a number of raids by the investigative agencies against their leaders. Also, Karnataka Assembly elections, which will weigh high on the BJP and Congress, may swing the fate of the remainder of the Budget session. The government is also unfazed of passing important legislations in din, which will remain true for the demands of grants, which otherwise by convention are discussed at length in the two Houses.