Farmers Movement Archive

Winter session: Opposition looks to firm strategy

After fiery speeches by various Trinamool Congress leaders against the Congress, and the latter’s barbs aimed at Mamata Banerjee’s party, the two opposition parties now face the task of coordinating their strategies in the coming winter session of Parliament.In the last session, the Congress (which has 52 members in the Lok Sabha and 34 in the Rajya Sabha)), the TMC (22 in the Lok Sabha and 12 in the RS) , and other opposition parties were on the same page on most of the issues and their united protests over farm laws led to a near-washout of the monsoon session.A divided Opposition, in the past, had come handy for the government to pass key bills on Triple Talaq, bifurcation of J&K and scrapping of Article 370 in the Upper House, where the Bharatiya-Janata Party led NDA still doesn’t have the majority.The winter session of Parliament is scheduled from November 29 to December 23.But in the last two months, the exodus from the Congress to the Trinamool and the latter’s public criticism of the former has rattled even the Congress’ central leadership, according to two senior Congress leaders.In September, West Bengal chief minister, in one of her poll rallies, said, “The Congress is scared. They sometimes manage you (BJP) but you cannot manage Mamata Banerjee. TMC will work across the country even as the Congress couldn’t.”A month later, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala reacted to Banerjee’s visit to Goa, where elections are due early next year, and said, “Politics is not tourism. In a democracy, any party can contest anywhere but are they (TMC) helping BJP in Goa?”“It will not be an easy job to bring all Opposition parties on the same page this time. But we are hopeful that the larger issue of tackling the BJP in parliament might prove to be a key factor,” said a senior Congress leader.A Trinamool floor leader, when asked about floor coordination, quipped, “There’s lots of time left (to work things out).”Top opposition leaders are expected to meet ahead of the session to discuss the floor management plan apart from broader issues.But while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has already announced that his party wants to debate the Rafale deal and the Pegasus spyware controversy, some opposition parties might not be interested in the Rafale issue.“Rafale is an old issue... We must look now to fresh matters of national importance,” said a senior opposition MP, who doesn’t belong to the Congress.Behind the scenes, communication channels are open and buzzing between the TMC and the Congress, according to according to leaders of both parties.

Hindustan Times

12-11-2021

India