Government, Opposition duel over claiming credit for breaking Parliament's SIR debate impasse

New Delhi: The government and the Opposition are competing to claim the upper hand following both sides managing to break the stalemate over a discussion on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Parliament.

The resolution of the deadlock also saw both sides walking an extra mile as one of the considerations for scheduling the discussions on Vande Mataram and electoral reforms only next week was due to Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to New Delhi on Thursday and Friday, sources said.

Informally, the government managers indicated Putin’s visit to the Opposition side with sources claiming that the latter decided to accept it as it did not want to be seen as creating an obstacle to the smooth functioning of Parliament.

The government managers are painting a narrative of the Opposition’s climb down by allowing a discussion on the 150th year of ‘Vande Mataram’, the national song, as suggested by the ruling side ahead of the one on electoral rolls after refusing to have a standalone debate on SIR.

However, the Opposition insists that they refused to fall into the “trap set by the government” by not remaining adamant on SIR-first stand. Instead, it is pointing fingers at the government for the “wash out” of Monsoon Session, claiming that it had suggested the same formula for discussion on SIR then.

Congress Lok Sabha Whip Manickam Tagore was quick to declare, “I.N.D.I.A (bloc) wins. Arrogance finally bows to the unity of 240 (Lok Sabha) and 100 (Rajya Sabha) MPs…One full Monsoon Session was washed away because of this. Two days of the Winter Session (have) already wasted. Democracy is not a playground for diversion – it demands accountability.”

“We have been gracious and accommodating, even though we are up against a government that mocks Parliament. Yes, a discussion on SIR was and is a top priority. However, in the spirit of parliamentary democracy, we accepted the government’s proposal about timing and made a tactical change,” Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’Brien said.

During the Monsoon Session itself after the government made it clear that it cannot allow a discussion on the functioning of the EC in Parliament, the Opposition had said that they could enlarge the scope of debate to electoral reforms, a point they reiterated in the past two days. The government had then cited a ruling by then Speaker Balram Jakhar in the 1980s.

Seeking to find a middle road, the I.N.D.I.A bloc on Monday decided on a wait and watch policy for two days while opening the route for a resolution. Though it staged protests inside and outside Parliament, its intensity did not match with that of the previous session, as backroom talks were on.

However, the Opposition was initially reluctant to allow a discussion on Vande Mataram first but as it felt that the ruling BJP may create a narrative against them around it, they changed their strategy.

For the government, it could argue that it had the last word on the agenda while refusing to accede to the demand for a statement in Parliament on it.