NDA promises a stormy session

BJP rejects PM's appeal saying it lacks conviction

With a heavy legislative agenda and a recalcitrant Opposition, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) found itself on the other side of the fence when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pleaded with the Opposition to let Parliament get on with its work, assuring that talks could be held over "everything".

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary, gave a clear indication that the Budget session would go the way of the new Lok Sabha's first session when he said the UPA's conduct showed it was merely "taunting" the Opposition and warned smooth functioning of Parliament "would not be possible under these circumstances".

Between Saturday and Sunday, the Prime Minister spoke to leader of the Opposition LK Advani, held a meeting with Opposition leaders about the forthcoming Parliament session and sought Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's help in getting Parliament to work instead of letting the fiasco of the last session repeat itself when the issue of tainted minister held up proceedings for virtually the whole session.

Not so long ago, these exact words were used by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to appeal to the Congress when the Congress-led Opposition stalled Parliament and continued to boycott the then Defence Minister George Fernandes till the very end of the last Lok Sabha.

Singh and more importantly, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad are faced with the possibility of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) boycotting the passage of the Railway Budget on Tuesday proposed by Laloo Prasad Yadav on the twin issues of the fact Yadav is a chargesheeted minister and as protest against the Congress removing BJP appointed governors.

The Congress has been reduced to saying defensively that they changed the governors because of their political background. The BJP is seeking to make capital of the fact that this is anti-democracy.

There is no real danger of the Railway Budget falling even if the Opposition stays away because combined with the Samajwadi Party and the Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal, the UPA has upwards of 320 seats.

The problems will arise later on in the session when Bills like the women's reservation Bill are sought to be passed and in a attempt to embarrass the Congress, the Samajwadi Party decides to stay away or vote with the Opposition. Even Laloo Prasad Yadav's Rastriya Janata Dal has serious differences with the Congress on the women's reservation Bill proposals.

The BJP is determined to project this government as a conglomerate of loose interests, which has banded together without ideology. Their accent will be on telling the world that although they think the Prime Minister is a "decent" man, the presence of chargesheeted ministers takes the sheen off the government.

The UPA, on the other hand, has made it clear that it is not willing to compromise. "Not attending the House is one way, not allowing the House to function is another. But they have tried both these options. If they want something then there is always the path of talks," Azad sai told reporters in a show of bravado.

But the session is bound to be stormy with the NDA saying that it would maintain the pressure on the UPA government. BJP leader VK Malhotra said there was no indication or proposal from the government that had led the NDA to believe the government wanted talks to be an option.

The NDA is due to meet tomorrow for a strategy session. "The BJP has maintained that it will play the role of a constructive, effective and aggressive opposition. But unfortunately, the government is in a mood for confrontation with the Opposition ahead of the Budget Session of Parliament," Naqvi told reporters.

Emphasising that ensuring smooth conduct of business in Parliament was the responsibility of the government by taking Opposition into confidence, he said, "but the recent developments imply that the government is taunting the Opposition and creating a situation in which smooth functioning of Parliament will not be possible."