Parliament: Oppn takes steam off Rahul's strategy

Rahul Gandhi and his core strategists have been far too optimistic in hoping that the last session of the 15th Lok Sabha would run in the most orderly fashion and all political parties would bow to the Congress vice-president’s wish that his favorite bills be taken up with urgency. The bills include those related to public and judicial accountability, communal violence and the creation of Telangana. The passage of these would have given the embattled Congress a talking point before the general elections. The party negated any possibility of cooperation from the main opposition party, the BJP, by stamping its approval on the nomination of PP Rao to the Lokpal collegium despite strident opposition from Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj just ahead of the opening of the session. She will be petitioning to the President Pranab Mukherjee against that. The argument is that at least in such issues of public importance, the first move on Lokpal should not have come by split voting. [caption id=“attachment_1375905” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The opposition during the Parliament session on Wednesday. PTI[/caption] The last session of Parliament, with elections due only in two months, should otherwise have been limited to just passing a constitutionally mandatory `vote on account’ to run the government’s financial business beyond 31 March till a regular budget is presented by the new government. However, Rahul’s late positioning as anti-corruption crusader and consequent fancy for ‘framework’ bills to tackle corruption and the jinxed Andhra Pradesh bifurcation bill have led to the session being expanded a bit. For the political parties of all hues it’s the last chance to make a positioning for the coming general elections. The Congress has all along been aware that it was virtually impossible to have these bills cleared, something that was articulated this morning by Finance Minister P Chidambaram. Why then Rahul Gandhi kept talking about ‘framework’ bills? The idea was if they get them passed it would boost Rahul Gandhi’s new positioning as a decisive leader. If the government failed to pass the bills, as is most likely, the Congress party would still get talking points — blaming the opposition, or the principal rival, the BJP, for being obstructionist and claiming moral high ground to seek mandate for a UPA III. The same was true for Telangana, no matter what its own Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and state party unit have been saying. Either way, the Congress leadership conceived it as a win-win situation. It did, however, underestimate the BJP and the other regional players’ potential to work out a counter strategy. They are in no mood to let the “last” opportunity to corner Congress go or to give it an advantage in any way. Sushma Swaraj in Lok Sabha thus came out as the champion of the rights of north-eastern people. In Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley aggressively and effectively checkmated the government hurried push for the Communal Violence Bill. The BSP created a ruckus over a suggestion made by powerful Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi on new economic criterion-based reservation in government jobs and educational institutions and the Akali Dal on a “leak” that Indira Gandhi had sought Bristih help in Operation Bluestar. The latest revelation on AgustaWestland VVIP choppers is yet to unleash its disruptive potential. This time the BJP’s fire will be directed at Sonia Gandhi. No one was really bothered about Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s “sincere appeal” for good conduct. Both sides of the Telangana divide are camping in Delhi. An open public defiance against the Congress high command by the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and the state (Seemandhra) Congress leaders is indicative of the fact that either the authority of the Congress central leadership has weakened substantially or Andhra (which made UPA I and UPA II possible) Congress leaders see the party as completely doomed and thus looking for life beyond the Congress. The big question still is will the bill to create Telangana be passed? The answer is most unlikely. This is a constitutional amendment bill and thus both Houses of Parliament will have to be “in order” to consider its passage. The BJP is ready to support in principle but is smartly talking of the need for a good deal to the Seemandhra region. The IUML spoke of moving some amendments and then there are Congress MPs from Seemandhra who want to move a no-confidence motion against their own government at the centre. Kiran Kumar Reddy has petitioned President and believes that it will not come to Parliament for consideration. If at all the bill is placed for consideration and passage, unlike the Group of Ministers which on Tuesday had dismissed whopping 9024 amendments from the AP state legislature in one go, Parliament will have to deal with them clause by clause, with House in the order, not in the din. A division of votes in House can’t take place till the House functioned in orderly manner. No prize for guessing what is expected to happen as and when this bill is introduced.