Modi sarkar's first budget session begins amid price rise, Iraq, LoP tussle

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s disinclination to use her discretion to give the Congress party the Leader of Opposition position has put the main opposition party in a tight spot. It cannot afford to be seen to be campaigning for a post that it does not strictly merit according to the rulebook, but at the same time it cannot give up that Constitutional position. After all, that’s the only thing that would distinguish the Congress from the others in the Opposition ranks, all regional parties.

Though the party leaders are mulling various options including seeking legal recourse, so far there is no clarity. At the all-party meeting convened by the Speaker, the issue was not taken up. The Congress did not raise the issue and the Speaker and the government found it only convenient to keep it on the backburner.

Parliamentary Affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu clearly indicated that granting the LoP post to the Congress was completely off the radar, the government and Speaker included. “The subject is not in my domain. I don’t think it is pending before the Speaker,” he said. Though Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and chief whip Jyotiraditya Scindia met the Speaker, they have not petitioned for the post yet.

Though second-rung leaders and spokespersons have been making a case for the LoP post which could give Cabinet minister status to Mallikarjun Kharge, making him part of the selection panels for some Constitutional and statutory posts, top-rung leaders, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have not spoken on the subject. After all, there had been no Leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha from 1979 to 1989, the 7th and 8th Lok Sabhas, when Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were Prime Ministers.

But without the status of the main opposition party, without the position of the Leader of Opposition, with only two of its leaders in the front rows, the Congress will suffer daily ignominy in the House for the next five years. That could be too much to bear for the Congress leadership, as also for an already demoralised rank and file. The 44-member Congress would also get a tough competition for genuine opposition space from the 37-member AIADMK and 34-member Trinamool Congress in Lok Sabha.

On its part, in order to deny the post of the LOP to the Congress, the BJP is citing the eligibility criteria – 10 percent strength of the Lok Sabha. The Congress, with 44 seats in Lok Sabha, falls short by 10 seats of the required 55. A six-decade-old ruling by India’s first Speaker GV Mavalankar, Direction 121 (1C) which says, “In recognising a Parliamentary Party or Group the Speaker shall take into consideration the following principles - shall have at least a strength equal to the quorum fixed to constitute a sitting of the House, that is one-tenth of the total number of members of the House.”

The application of this direction could reduce Congress from status of a ‘recognised party’ to a ‘recognised group’ in the ok Sabha. The 1998 Amendment Act is even more specific. It specifies the number 55 for Lok Sabha. Leaders and Chief Whips of Recognised Parties and Groups in Parliament (Facilities) Act 1998, Section 2, says, “In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, (a) “recognised party” means, (i) in relation to the Council of States, every party which has a strength of not less than fifteen members and not more than twenty-four members in the Council; (ii) in relation to the House of the People, every party which has a strength of not less than fifty-five members in the House.” The provisions of this Act put Congress, AIADMK and Trinamool in at-par positions.

Apart from the presentation and passage of the rail and main Union Budget, the session will see the Opposition making a pitch on price rise. The ruling BJP is not uncomfortable about holding a discussion on price rise, as it would given them a chance to shift the blame on the current shape of the economy to the UPA and highlight the course Narendra Modi has adopted for the new government.

The Congress does not have a leader known for his or her oratorical skills in their ranks. Kharge and Scinda would have to share the principal load, if they intend to. They also don’t have a leader whose understanding of the budget and economy is known. All of the Congress’s stalwarts either lost or did not contest elections. Given the fact that this is the budget session, the party has practically nobody whose intervention may possibly make a worthwhile impact.

Modi’s stopover in Chennai for a “courtesy call” to AIADMK Chief and Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha becomes significant given this scenario. The two of them share an excellent rapport. And the AIADMK chief’s position on the Congress is well known.

The government has also got a slight booster after nurses from Kerala returned home safely from Iraq after a day in captivity following weeks of being trapped in a hospital in Tikrit. This was considered to be the new government’s first diplomatic victory.

After the all-party meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said the government will also make a statement in both Houses on the condition of Indians in war-torn Iraq. “We will be taking up the general budget, railway budget and also willing to discuss any issue of national importance…the government will also make a statement on the situation of Indians in Iraq. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will make the statement in both Houses,” he said.