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Although Trai Amendment Bill, moved by the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government to give legal sanction for the appointment of Nripendra Misra as principal secretary in the PMO, would be cleared in the Lok Sabha, given the BJP's overwhelming majority, what has come as a shocker was the complete about-turn by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on the issue.
The TMC all along had been vocal in its criticism of the government for "flouting all rules" and its MP Saugata Roy had even moved a statutory resolution "disapproving the Trai ordinance promulgated on 28 May 2014". However, on the floor of the House, the TMC suddenly supported the Ordinance, ensuring a resounding victory for the ruling NDA and a complete isolation of the Congress, which staged a walk out protesting against the Ordinance. The sudden U-turn, it appeared, took some TMC members also by surprise on the floor of the House.
While the statutory resolution disapproving the ordinance was moved by Congress Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury along with Roy, when it was taken up for discussion Roy was not present in the House. In fact, the Speaker did not even read out Saugata Roy's name, causing several to conjecture whether it was "a fixed match between the BJP and the TMC". Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury proceeded to lambast the government on "transgressing the domain of the legislature" by taking the Ordinance route.
After AIADMK's Thambidurai went onto support the Ordinance describing it as prerogative of the government, Trinamool Congress' Sudip Bandyopadhyay got up to address the House. Describing the TMC as a "responsible party" Bandyopadhyay said, "The PM can choose any officer whom he thinks fit for the post." He stated, "We do not object it; we do not oppose it because of the greater interest of the governance."
TMC members Kalyan Banerjee, who entered later, was seen asking fellow party member Kakoli Ghsosh Dastidar what had transpired and she gestured knowing nothing while pointing at party leader Bandyopadhyay.
Post the clearance of the Bill, TMC members refused to officially comment on the sudden change of stance alleging that their earlier objection to the Ordinance was "personal" and Monday's support of the government was the "party stand".
Speculation was rife in Parliament corridors that the TMC being neck-deep in the Saradha scam and now under the direct glare of the CBI investigation, could have led to its change in stance. There was also a buzz that the TMC could have received assurance for its long-pending demand for a special monetary package for West Bengal.
One senior MP later described the U-turn as an "abject surrender".
Incidentally, Congress leader in the house Mallikarjun Kharge stood isolated opposing the Ordinance, while even its oldest ally the Nationalist Congress Party decided to support the government on the Bill.
Another UPA supporter the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) decided to throw their weight behind the government.
Only the Aam Aadmi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) sided with the Congress in opposing the Ordinance.
Emboldened by the turn of events, the BJP-led government is now confident of repeating the feat in the Rajya Sabha as well. While it was being considered that its depleted strength would be a challenge for the government in the Upper House, the aligning of the TMC, BSP, SP, NCP has recalibrated the political alignments. The Congress has 68 MPs while the BJP has 43 MPs in the Upper House.
The Congress tried best to hide its failure at not being able to keep the Opposition united and spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed only said, "Ordinance should be promulgated in extraordinary situations. What was the emergency to do it?"
With the clearing of the Trai amendment in the Upper House, the Bill will replace the Ordinance. The latter enabled Misra, a former Trai chairman to take over as Modi's principal secretary.
