The current Parliament’s last winter session will be in public memory for a long period of time. Three incidents that happened during this session should have been avoided. First, two youths jumped into the chamber of the Lok Sabha from the visitors’ gallery on 13 December, reminding the country of the terror attack on Parliament that happened on the same day, 22 years ago.
While the probe agencies were still investigating the incident, the Opposition continued to behave in an unruly and disruptive manner, going to the extent of disrespecting the office of Chairman of Rajya Sabha and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar by mimicking him. The situation took a turn for the worse with every passing day during the session, with an unprecedented 146 MPs being suspended from the two Houses for “unruly conduct”.
Just for the sake of opposing, the opposition forgot issues such as price rise, unemployment, corruption, etc. After the defeat in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, it seemed that the opposition would focus on constructive politics, avoiding the politics of confrontation with the government. It was hoped that at least the penultimate session of the second term of the current government would see a cordial atmosphere in Parliament. The opposition, which wanted to present a picture of unity in the bloc, did not cooperate with the government to find any solution to the deadlock in Parliament. Nor did the government take any significant initiative to open the door of dialogue.
It is difficult to predict how long this opposition unity will remain intact. It is also doubtful whether the opposition will be able to pose any major challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. BJP’s victory in the three states of the Hindi heartland has already made Prime Minister Narendra Modi as popular as he was in the 2019 elections. Secondly, the opposition has nothing to counter the issues that the BJP is raising, such as abrogation of Article 370, Ram Janmabhoomi, dynastic politics, etc.
After the end of winter session, the Opposition raised the issue of unemployment only at Jantar Mantar. It also focused on suspension of MPs. The question is whether the opposition can challenge the BJP even on the issue of suspension. The budget session will be just a formality to present an interim budget. So, the way ahead is not easy for the opposition. At the same time, there are reports of differences over one issue or the other among the I.N.D.I.A constituents. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wants the caste census issue to be given importance. But after tasting defeat in three states, Congress wants to avoid it.
Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee is also not in favour of raising the caste census issue. And, the most important question is who the PM face of the opposition bloc will be.