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Cong-BJP bonhomie a landmark in House
NEW DELHI: This year’s monsoon session is turning out to be a watershed. Not because the Parliament finally cleared the bill that will pave the way for the roll-out
NEW DELHI: This year’s monsoon session is turning out to be a watershed. Not because the Parliament finally cleared the bill that will pave the way for the roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). And also not because the session has seen the least number of disruptions in four years.
It is a watershed because the BJP, for once, is acting like the ruling party. And the Congress, for a change, is thinking beyond being the perpetual Opposition party.
“Don’t think we are going to be the party that is always in opposition. We will come to power sooner or later. We cannot come in the way of a legislation that is of crucial national importance,” a senior party leader quoted Congress president Sonia Gandhi as telling her party colleagues.
Ahead of the session, the enforcement directorate had registered an FIR against former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Hooda for alleged irregularities in the allotment of land to The National Herald newspaper. It was expected that the BJP would corner the Congress over the case. But the BJP has refrained from raking it up. It seems to have also forgotten the AgustaWestland scandal, which dominated the last session.
The new parliamentary affairs minister, Ananth Kumar, is often seen walking over to the Opposition benches in the Lok Sabha to have a chat or dropping in the Central Hall of Parliament to have tea with opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge.
During an interaction recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi exhorted senior Congress leader KV Thomas to support the GST Bill, saying it was the “child” of the UPA government. Thomas told Modi that the BJP’s repeated talk of “Congress-mukt Bharat” irked his party. Modi didn’t say anything but one doesn’t hear this slogan from BJP leaders any more.
A BJP floor manager conceded there was a conscious attempt not to rile the main Opposition party. “Our priority is to get the bills passed and not to score political brownies,” he said.
The Congress, too, seems to have done a rethink. It was evident when the Lok Sabha discussed changes to the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act to extend the July 31 deadline for the declaration of assets by public servants, NGO office-bearers and their spouses.
As some Trinamool Congress and Left members raised objections to the change, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi wanted his party MPs to join them. A colleague was quick to point out that party leader Digvijaya Singh was part of a delegation that called on the Prime Minister to demand the changes. Rahul didn’t press if further.
Similarly, the Congress had reservations against the compensatory afforestation fund bill, but it relented and helped its passage in the Rajya Sabha.
This consensus on “rashtraniti”, as PM Modi said in reference to the GST in the Lok Sabha om Monday evening, might be temporary but, for now, the focus is back on the agenda of governance.
