The ‘cornered’ state of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) over corruption charges has actually triggered a tug of war between the Opposition parties to steal the limelight. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) more aggressive position and efforts to snatch away the entire credit during the current impasse has actually pressed the panic button in other Opposition parties.
In a bid to gain over the BJP, the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), backed by some Left MPs, today jumped into the Well as soon as proceedings in House started in the morning. RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav held a quick meeting before the House started where many other MPs from smaller parties egged on the pair to “do something” as the BJP is posing itself as the real Opposition.
In the evening, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal met Raghuvansh Prasad Singh—the first UPA’s Rural Development Minister—and told him, “Why you suddenly got so agitated?” Singh bluntly replied, “How can we allow the BJP to steal the show?”
As if this was not enough, JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda spent hours in the Central Hall trying to discuss the current situation with MPs from various parties. His mission: to revive the non-BJP, non-Congress opposition force in the Parliament. A meeting of these parties was later arranged at Deve Gowda’s residence but finally it was cancelled.
Even as A Raja has been forced to resign, the BJP wants to take the war to the next level. Adamant on the formation of the JPC, party’s chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “this is the mother of all scams. Raja must be prosecuted under the Prevention of Corruption Act.”
The CPI(M) too, was quick to grab the credit for Raja’s removal. Sitaram Yechury, politburo member of the party, said, “We have been asking for this for over two years. This is not the end in itself. An impartial inquiry is required to see how the system was manipulated to cause such a massive loss.”
UPA managers have invited the various parties for a luncheon meeting on Tuesday to resolve the current impasse.
