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Opposition parties are likely to harden their positions in Parliament, as the perception of the invincibility of the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government has been smashed by the Delhi election results.
This could lead to more logjams over key Bills when the Budget session begins on February 23.
Senior Congress sources stuck to their earlier positions: That the party had no substantive differences on either the coal ordinance, intended in the long run to reform the coal mining sector, or the changes in the insurance sector, for which an ordinance has been promulgated by the government. "We do not want to be seen as anti-reformists," a Congress leader said.
Both Bills were not allowed to be tabled in the previous session of Parliament because of disruption by the Opposition. The government had to resort to issuing the amended versions as ordinance.
The Congress said they will make no efforts to convince other Opposition parties, like the Trinamool Congress, that they should support the legislation. In the winter session, wary of being isolated, the Congress had gone along with other Opposition parties in preventing parliamentary ratification of the amended Bills.
However, the Congress will oppose the changes the government had proposed to the land acquisition law, especially doing away with social impact assessment for projects described as being for public purposes. In the party's view, this change will enable the government to ride roughshod over those who don't have rights on the land but nevertheless derive their livelihood from it.
The Congress, the biggest opposition group in the Rajya Sabha, has not taken a view on what its parliamentary strategy for the Budget session will be. "It all depends on what the government does and says. If we sense that the government is trying to justify communalism, we cannot stand by and continue with parliamentary business as usual," said a Congress leader.
