When the winter session of Parliament begins on Wednesday, a united Opposition will take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on its decision to invalidate high-currency notes, a move that a confident government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is ready to defend.
The BJP’s aggressive tone for the coming session was set by Modi in a series of speeches in Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra on his return from Japan on Sunday. While seeking people’s support in his battle against black money, he lashed out at the Opposition, especially the Congress, for criticising the move and accused it of supporting the corrupt.
On November 8, Modi had announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would no longer be legal tender, in an effort to curb the black money economy and counterfeit currency. Since then, opposition parties, such as the Congress, the the Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party, among others, have attacked the government for the sudden announcement, which delegitimised about 86% of the currency in circulation in India, claiming that the decision is anti-poor. Amid reports of growing inconvenience and restlessness among citizens, Modi on Sunday made an emotional appeal to people to bear with the situation for another 50 days – though reports have said it may take up four months to ease the liquidity crunch resulting from the demonetisation.
Speaking to senior BJP leaders on Monday at a meeting convened to discuss their strategy in Parliament ahead of the winter session, Modi told them that the party has no reason to worry as they had the support of citizens in the crackdown on black money. Taking a cue from the Prime Minister, the BJP is likely to be at its aggressive best in tackling the Opposition over the demonetisation move.
Heating up
A government usually tends to adopt a conciliatory approach towards the Opposition in Parliament to ensure that the session goes through with minimum disruptions and key bills can be taken up and passed. Opposition parties, on the other hand, come armed with a list of issues and constantly seek to put the government on the mat.
In this Parliament session, however, coming so close to the crucial Uttar Pradesh elections next year, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government is likely to be anything but conciliatory.
The party is confident that the demonetisation move has largely won it the favour of citizens. The BJP also feels it has an upper hand over the Opposition over the army’s “surgical strikes” across the Line of Control between India in Pakistan on September 28, the implementation of One Rank One Pension scheme for defence personnel and its stand on abolishing triple talaq, a plea to end which has been taken up by the Supreme Court. In particular, the surgical strikes and demonetisation, the BJP feels, helped shore up Modi’s image and projected him as a politician willing to take a tough line on Pakistan and against black money and corruption.
However, the Opposition is also ready to put up a united front against the government, especially over demonetisation and the suicide of an ex-army man in New Delhi last month, allegedly because of shortcomings in the implementation of OROP.
Didi takes the lead
In an unusual move, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee on Sunday reached out to parties in Opposition at the Centre, including arch-rival Communist Party of India (Marxist), proposing that they join hands against the BJP in Parliament.
Apart from seeking the coordination of all parties on the Parliament floor over this issue, the Trimanool chief also plans to lead a march to Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday to submit a petition to the President seeking a revocation of the demonetisation decision.
The Congress, being a national party and the largest Opposition party, would have ideally liked to take the lead on bringing all parties together against the BJP, but has let Banerjee spearhead this as she has been a vocal opponent of the government’s sudden announcement banning Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 moves. Banerjee has said several times that the move is anti-people and will hurt the poor, those who are outside the banking system and those who subsist on daily wages more than black-money hoarders. Moreover, the Congress is still battling the taint of several scams that led to its defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, making it difficult for it to spearhead a movement against a step that ostensibly cracks down on corruption.
Encouraged by Banerjee’s enthusiasm, the Congress convened a meeting of all opposition leaders on Monday to chalk out a strategy for the winter session. The meeting was attended by CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’brien and representatives of the Janata Dal(U) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, among others. Kumari Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party and M. Karunanidhi’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam are also being persuaded to join forces with the other opposition parties.
