DIVIDED OPPOSITION FACILITATES BJP SUPREMACY
By Arun Srivastava
Once again the same old story was seen to be replayed on the floor of Rajya Sabha. Notwithstanding their pledge to defeat the Triple Talaq Bill the left and secular parties helped the BJP government to turn into a law abstaining from voting. If these forces had not abstained from the voting the bill must had been defeated.
What made these parties to turn their back to the pledges made to the people, particularly to the Muslims is not clear but there is no denying the fact they betrayed their trust in them. It is really incomprehensible that in a house where the opposition outnumbers the BJP government, how could the controversial bill sail through? At least 22 opposition members including five each from the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, were not present in Rajya Sabha during voting. Besides, Congress and SP, senior NCP leaders Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel and one member each of Trinamool Congress, DMK, IUML, CPI and Kerala Congress were also missing during voting. This certainly smacks of a well-planned design.
Significantly just before laying of the Bill on the table of the house, the BJP had issued a whip and directed its members to be present in the house. But the opposition parties and their leaders, except the Congress, did not issue any directive to their members. Obviously this raises many questions. Though the Congress has issued a whip it is unlikely the five MPs who abstained from the upper house would prefer to clarify their conduct. The Modo government got the ‘The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019’, passed in Rajya Sabha with 99 members voting in favour and 84 against it.
Tactically instead of being absent from the House the opposition could have used its strength for forcing the government to send the bill to a Select Committee of the house. This could have saved the prestige and image of the members. Since the 22 members were already committed to Modi they did not resort to this mechanism. In fact the resignation of Congress RS MP Sanjay Sinh on the same day from the house and also from the party makes their intention clear. The other four Congress MPs who abstained were Vivek Tankha, Pratap Singh Bajwa, Mukut Mithi and Ranjib Biswal.
Their deception projected Modi as the hero of modern India. It provided a historic victory facilitating the government to clear Raj Sabha test to pass a bill ban the practice of instant oral divorce. The United opposition that claimed to stand like a rock to block Narendra Modi’s agenda crumbled miserably.
The absenteeism of the CPI sent the message that the party lacks political wisdom. There is huge difference between what the Party practices and preaches. There is no command of the Party on its legislative wing. The Party leadership must have issued concrete directive to the MP. Abstaining from the vote does not boost the image of the party. The most deplorable has been the stance and approach of the JD(U) on this issue. Its supremo Nitish Kumar has been giving the impression that he was opposed to the Bill and had asked his MPs to oppose it using their full might.
The decision of four parties AIADMK (13), Janata Dal-United (6), BJD (7) and BSP (4), to walk out at the time of voting tilted the balance in the government’s favour in this game of nerves. Another big jolt to the opposition came with NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar and his party colleague and former civil aviation minister Praful Patel abstaining during the voting. The fact of the matter is these parties actually supported the Bill. They were aware of the fact that their absenteeism from the house will help the government achieve its mission.
True enough its members spoke against the Bill during the debate but later walked out at the time of voting. Undeniably Nitish fooled the Muslims. Actually he was dancing to the tunes of the BJP. It is a fact that JD(U)’s decision to walk out of the Upper House tilted the delicate balance in favour of the government and against the opposition’s unity.
The behaviour of the leaders of these parties has forced Muslims to speak of alternate mechanism. It underlines that they have been completely marginalised?’ What was most surprising was the stand of Lalu Prasad’s RJD. He claims to enjoy the support of Mu. His M-Y combination is famous across the country. But the RJD members too went out of the House during the voting. Did they resort to this after taking the Muslims into confidence? These secular parties take Muslims for a ride and frighten them by saying that if Muslims don’t vote for them, then the BJP will come and establish the Hindu Rashtra.
Yesterday’s development is fraught with a perilous situation. It cannot be denied that Muslims may develop apathy towards the electoral system. This would be the most serious situation for the country and its polity. In fact a discussion is going on in Muslim society that they must hold onto the Congress party only, but there is a small percentage of Muslims who say it does not make any sense to be with the Congress, instead focus on education and economic development.
It is a known fact that JD(U)’s opposition to the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill had in fact derailed Modi’s effort to pass the law just before the Lok Sabha 2019 election. Once Modi came to power second time, Nitish did not change his stance. It has to face stiff resistance in introducing the bill in the newly constituted Lok Sabha. But suddenly JD(U) made a volte face and helped the Modi government to grab the desired object.
This is not the first time that the opposition leaders helped Modi and his government. They favoured him on the issue of Right to Information bill. The opposition was badly divided on the RTI Bill. The situation was bad that the opposition could not force a division on the issue. Congress deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma said: The government is disrupting Parliament by hurriedly passing legislations without scrutiny. Sensitive Bills that impact a substantial mass of society must be debated thoroughly”.
Paradoxically the opposition leaders are not concerned about their prestige and dignity and also their image. They wilfully fell victim to Modi’s machinations. He ensured complete absence of cohesion in the opposition rank. The role of the opposition parties on the issue of passage of the NIA Amendment Bill was questionable. The Congress ended up voting for the Bill. It is yet to come out with a candid explanation. (IPA Service)