‘Fence-sitters’ YSRCP, BJD move closer to Opposition rank
The Congress has improved its strength to 98 MPs in the Lok Sabha and holds the leader of the Opposition posts in both Houses of Parliament.
When YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) lawmaker V Vijaisai Reddy criticised the Union Budget in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday — alleging that injustice was done to Andhra Pradesh in the budget and that it has nothing for the middle class — it indicated a deviation in the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led party’s stance of being a fence-sitter ready to support the Centre in Parliament that it exhibited over the last five years.
Not only the YSRCP, former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal, too, has shown a similar change. Though both parties continue to maintain a distance from the Congress, YSRCP has signaled it is ready to support some of the INDIA bloc constituents while the BJD, too, has taken opposition alike steps recently.
Vijaisai Reddy told HT that his party “will give issued based support to the INDIA bloc” while BJD leader in Rajya Sabha Sasmit Patra denied any truck with the opposition coalition even as the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the third-largest party in Parliament, said communication channels have been opened with the BJD.
“With two powerful alliances in place, the room for fence-sitters have considerably shrunk. It is in the best interest of smaller parties—for all practical reasons—to coordinate with at least one group in Parliament,” P Sreedharan, former Lok Sabha secretary general, said.
When the Opposition INDIA bloc decided to boycott Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reply to the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha on July 3, the BJD also staged a walkout. Similarly, on July 24, when the INDIA bloc stormed out of the Rajya Sabha to protest a “discriminatory” budget, the BJD also followed suit.
A senior BJD leader said the regional party did not “join” the Opposition but walked out separately, to which a non-Congress INDIA bloc leader said: “The end result was same.”
Two Opposition leaders, however, said the only stumbling block for the YSRCP and BJD from joining the Opposition ranks is the grand old party. “Congress is the traditional rival of BJD and YSRCP, which was formed after former Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy left the Congress,” an Opposition leader said.
The Congress has improved its strength to 98 MPs in the Lok Sabha and holds the leader of the Opposition posts in both Houses of Parliament besides being the largest partner in the INDIA bloc. “We can’t do without the Congress and parties such as YSRCP, BJD or even BRS (another fence-sitter) can’t be a part of our team,” a second Opposition leader said.
But, YSRCP’s “issue-based support” and the BJD’s synchronised moves are a “big success”, a senior non-Congress leader maintained.