Around 2.15 pm on Wednesday, the Congress walked out of the Rajya Sabha over farmers’ issue, nudging other Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc allies to come along. But no one did.
The staying back of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Communist Party Of India (CPI), CPIM, Trinamool Congress (TMC), Samajwadi Party (SP), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) is no aberration or coincidence. This is the new plan.
These parties have conveyed to the Congress that the way to fight the BJP is not disruption but taking them on. TMC leader Derek O’Brien said, “We are now leading towards a situation where we feel we can take on the government.”
INDIA bloc about the way the Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi, has been protesting and pushing for adjournments on issues which the others don’t feel find traction, for instance the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Electronic Voting Machines (EVM).
Sources say the JPC demand seems to have been shelved. And this has been conveyed to the Congress that it is best to forget it for now, despite the fact that Gandhi is keen on it.
Sources say that even before the session began, the Congress had reached out to the TMC and AAP, asking them to take up the issue of JPC. But both conveyed that this would not matter. In fact, that’s the reason why the TMC has decided to skip the INDIA bloc meeting and protests.
These parties have conveyed to the Congress that for their larger goal of taking on the BJP, they have to allow parliament to work.
The BJP, meanwhile, has a reason to smile at this disagreement within the bloc.
O’Brien said, “The opposition is united on taking on the BJP. It is united on strategy, but may have different tactics.”
Other parties in the INDIA bloc, especially those who have to face polls such as the AAP, are keen on attending the parliament. The Congress is now left high and dry and the pressure is on them to blink.
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