Govt, Opposition cooperation in House augurs well

The just-concluded monsoon session of parliament has been described as “historic” and “glorious” and marked by a bonhomie rarely seen in the 16th Lok Sabha. The bills passed during the short session catered to both – the proponents of economic reform and those espousing social issues.

Without doubt, the highlight of the monsoon session was the passage of the Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill that would enable the roll out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, billed as the most significant indirect tax reform since independence. Besides this, parliament also enacted laws that would lead to stricter debt recovery rules. For the social sector, bills to extend maternity leave for mothers from 12 weeks to 26 weeks and another to ensure compensation up to Rs 10,000 without legal hassles to employees suffering injuries while working in the organised sector saw some forward movement in parliament.

Both Houses of Parliament also witnessed impassioned debates on the unrest in Kashmir and atrocities against Dalits – issues on which the Modi government and the Opposition have sharply conflicting views. The 20 sittings saw the passage of 14 bills, a feat unthinkable in last year’s monsoon session that was rocked by the Vyapam scam and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj allegedly facilitating the travel documents to Lalit Modi.

So, how did this transformation in government-opposition relations come about? Two pressing considerations appear to have led to the change in chemistry. Firstly, there was immense pressure on the Modi government to deliver on the much-promised reforms. The industry was upset that the first year of the NDA rule was lost due to the controversial changes to the land acquisition laws and the delays over the GST Bill.

Secondly, the opposition, particularly the Congress, also realised that its confrontati-onist approach was not getting it the desired political dividends. Not only the other opposition parties, but even Congress leaders were complaining privately that the strident line on GST laid down by party vice president Rahul Gandhi was difficult to follow.

On the GST, despite Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s public statements of forcing a vote in the Rajya Sabha, the government was convinced that passing the Bill without the Congress support was not a laudable idea. It would have further deepened the faultlines between the government and the opposition thus making parliament function very difficult in the long run. The NDA floor managers launched a two-pronged strategy – get other opposition parties to align with the government on GST and simultaneously keep communication lines open with the Congress to make it see reason.

As it got the JD(U) and the CPM to reiterate support for the GST as the monsoon session got underway, Jaitley was conferring with senior Congress leaders exhorting them to convince party chief Sonia Gandhi on backing the indirect tax reform.

The SP, BSP, Trinamool Congress were already onboard. Once Sonia was onboard, the leaders turned their attention to Rahul who was insisting on government meeting the three conditions set by the Congress – 18% cap, dispute settlement mechanism and abolishing 1% entry tax.

The engagement with the Congress leaders helped the government convey the message that it was willing to concede two demands but capping the GST rate at 18% in the Constitutional Amendment Bill was not possible. The state governments too echoed this prompting a rethink in the Congress camp. Meanwhile, a delegation of industry chambers had called on Rahul in July after the start of the monsoon session to discuss the “political and social challenges” facing the country. It is learnt that the industry captains impressed upon the Congress scion on the need for the passage of the GST Bill during the session.

Rahul himself indicated on the Congress climb down on GST in an informal chat with mediapersons two days before the Bill came up in the Rajya Sabha. Prime Minister Modi too signalled a conciliatory approach when he made it clear that the opposition can take credit for the passage of the GST Bill as it was not a prestige issue for the government.

Cong stand
That the government’s high decibel campaign accusing the Congress of delaying the GST Bill also was hurting the main opposition. Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, let the cat out of the bag during the debate on the GST Bill. “You were responsible for the delay (of GST). Don’t vilify the Congress for that. You said Congress was delaying, Congress was obstructing,” he said.

Another key change was the reshuffle in the Centre’s floor managers in parliament. Modi sent a signal to the opposition that he was open to engage them by divesting the Parliamentary Affairs portfolio from the “confrontationist” M Venkaiah Naidu and his deputy Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

The appointment of Ananth Kumar as Parliamentary Affairs Minister also helped the government in soothing the frayed nerves of the opposition. “He is 1,000 times better than Naidu,” a senior Congress leader quipped when asked about Kumar’s new role. He is ably assisted by Minister of State Surinder Singh Ahluwalia, a former Congressman who is known to be familiar with the nitty-gritty of parliamentary procedure and had friends across the political spectrum.

According to an analysis by PRS Legislative, before the monsoon session, Rajya Sabha had met for 76% of its scheduled time in the current parliament (since May 2014), and Lok Sabha for 102%. During this session, Rajya Sabha met for 96% and Lok Sabha for 101% of their scheduled time. This implies that lesser time was lost to disruptions.

During the session, both Houses sat for extra hours on most days. Out of 20 days, Lok Sabha sat beyond its scheduled time on 11 days, while Rajya Sabha sat beyond its scheduled time on 14 days. However, it remains to be seen whether this camaraderie would continue for the future sessions of parliament or would be lost in the shrill campaigns for elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat next year.