How Israeli strikes in Gaza united the opposition in Lok Sabha

Amid the din that has dominated the parliament’s proceedings over the last week and left it in disarray, no one could have predicted that Gaza would be the one issue to bring the entire opposition together. Gaza was also the only issue that finally broke the political isolation of Congress that has received very little support from fellow Opposition parties, be it over TRAI or LOP status. Yesterday, majority of the opposition bench staged a walk out of the Lok Sabha after the government refused to pass a resolution criticising Israeli raids on Gaza, where over 200 have died over 9 days of unceasing strikes. The issue came up after PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti gave a notice for adjournment motion during the Zero Hour. [caption id=“attachment_1618285” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational Image. PTI[/caption] The Telegraph reports, “Today, Trinamool, AIADMK, Samajwadi Party, Left and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) walked out with the Congress, as did its ally NCP. The turn of events offered the Congress hope it could become a pivot of an Opposition coalition, something the ruling BJP is seen trying to thwart.” Members of Congress, Trinamool Congress and PDP staged a walkout after the government said it has no intention of bringing a resolution to condemn Israeli raids. Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu’s response to the outrage only added fuel to fire. “I have noted the views expressed by the members,” Naidu said adding that the matter was “highly sensitive” concerning foreign policy and “any move by the government should not have any implications”. “Domestic politics should not affect our foreign policy,” Naidu said. The uproar began shortly after, with members questioning what “implications” Naidu was referring to.  Expressing unhappiness over the government response, members of Congress, under directions of Sonia Gandhi, staged a walkout. TMC and PDP members also walked out. Earlier, the members of these parties trooped into the Well asking the government to make a statement. Rahul Gandhi too was seen in the aisle along with some of his Congress colleagues. However, speaker Sumitra Mahajan told the members that since all of them had expressed their views, they could not  be pushing the government for a statement. India was one of the first nations to recognise Palestine’s claim to a separate state. With Inputs from PTI