Opposition remains divided as Congress undecided over joining or boycotting JPC.
New Delhi: Even as opposition parties looked united while opposing the 130th Amendment to the Constitution Bill, the Congress is still deliberating whether it will join the joint parliamentary committee (JPC) or boycott it.
The BJP-led NDA government had brought the 130th Amendment to the Constitution Bill during Parliament’s Monsoon Session.
The ruling party likened this Bill to political integrity, while the opposition parties dubbed it as a “weapon” of the ruling party against the opposition.
Looking at the opposition to the Bill in Parliament, the government decided to send it to the JPC.
Now with the Bill set to become a law, the opposition is united in raising the issue of its misuse.
However, clearly there is no consensus between the Congress and the other opposition parties on whether to boycott or to join the JPC.
A Congress source mentioned that the party is still seriously deliberating if it will boycott the JPC, join it, or just stay away from it.
Differences of opinion have emerged in the opposition bloc, with RJD’s Manoj Jha earlier stating that his party wants to boycott the Bill.
Many other parties too have expressed similar opinions, including the Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress and others.
Meanwhile, the Congress believes that it should hold the high moral ground, and just like when it opposed the one nation, one election Bill or the Waqf Amendment Bill, it should still join the JPC and get its objections recorded.
The source said that the ruling party needs at least a two-thirds majority on the Bill, which is clearly impossible for it to achieve.
And the Amendment to the Constitution Bill, the source claimed, is one of the diversionary tactics by the government to divert attention from real issues.
The source, though, added that the Congress will clear its stand just ahead of the formation of the JPC, soon after the Vice Presidential elections.
Meanwhile, opposition parties besides Congress are of the view that the grand old party, being a national party, cannot be broken easily by the ruling party through registering cases or arresting ministers, unlike regional parties.
