The oncoming Parliament session is going to be a feisty one, especially with the Opposition all geared up to raise security breach at Pahalgam and the curious unfolding of the ceasefire with Pakistan that was first announced by the American President. However, the one thing that may weaken the Opposition case is the multi-party delegations that were sent by the government to explain India’s case abroad. Given the fact that some of the country’s ablest defenders came from the Opposition, be it Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Asaduddin Owaisi or Supriya Sule, it would be interesting to see the Opposition strategy, both in the line-up of speakers and also the content of its attack.
As far as the Congress is concerned, one wonders if Rahul Gandhi would lead the attack, for his has been the most vociferous voice outside Parliament. As far as the other issues are concerned, the recent EC ruling on the Bihar electoral rolls could be a setback for the Opposition, but there are other matters. Such as the ongoing tariff consultations with the US as well as India’s place in the new world order that is emerging. The probe into the Air India crash is also expected to be raised by the Opposition. In other words, this weather prediction for the coming Monsoon Session veers on the very stormy.
The Message from Bihar
While the NDA has planned its strategy to fight the coming Bihar elections under the leadership of current Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the Congress too has given the lead to the RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav. Although the state unit will be pressing for more seats, the RJD has let it be known that it is in no mood to oblige and in fact blames the Congress for losing the state in the last Assembly elections. Also, the chemistry between Kanhaiya Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav is not great despite the fact that Kanhaiya has emerged as one of Rahul Gandhi’s favourites to lead the Congress in Bihar—or maybe the chemistry is not great precisely because of this fact, as Tejashwi sees Kanhaiya as a possible rival. Unfortunately, Kanhaiya is still to get the support of his Congress colleagues, most of whom are envious of his rapid rise, despite the fact that he lost the last election. But given the fact that Nitish Kumar’s health and age will not permit him to contest another election, the field is wide open for a new leader to stake his claim. Apart from Tejashwi and Kanhaiya, the NDA too is filled with contenders, with Chirag Paswan leading the list. And then there is Prashant Kishor, who is definitely on the rise. He may not win this election, but his fledgling party is rapidly making strides. He could emerge as a spoiler, or a kingmaker in the coming polls. It is also interesting that this is one north Indian state where the fight is not so much between the Congress and the BJP, but between regional satraps. So watch this space for more surprises from this Hindi heartland.
