Budget Session: Opposition's desperate bid to reorient narrative around basic issues

The second leg of the Budget Session that began after the results of five elections were declared last month, saw a desperate attempt by the Opposition to reorient the political narrative around common man’s issues like the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits and Hijab row.

Even on Thursday when the session had an early closure, Shiv Sena and other Opposition parties created a ruckus over price rise while BJP’s Sushil Kumar Modi in Rajya Sabha made a zero-hour submission batting for an SIT under a retired Supreme Court judge to reopen the investigation into atrocities and crimes against Kashmiri Pandits saying it was a ‘holocaust”.

A senior Congress Parliamentarian claimed that it ceded space to other Opposition parties for raising issues on a number of occasions in both Houses on multiple occasions as it was required to keep the larger Opposition unity intact on issues that affect the common man when the ruling party was going through a big ideological push.

Read | 20-minute blitz of motions, protests spell Budget Session's end

Addressing a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) in the middle of the session, party chief Sonia Gandhi conceded that the road ahead for Congress is more challenging than before and laid stress on the party’s plan for ‘Mehngai Mukt Bharat’ (India free of price rise) campaign.

On Thursday Congress, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress and Congress in Rajya Sabha vociferously raised the issue of price rise while outside Delhi Congress held a 'Mehngai Mukt Bharat,' (India free of price rise) campaign slamming the Centre for increasing prices of petroleum products and general price hike.

While the Delhi unit of Congress threatened to hold ‘bigger demonstrations’. Party Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor took to Twitter to berate the government for raking up “pointless controversies over halal, hijab & azaan” and adjourning Parliament two days early.“The government should have had the courage to listen to a serious debate on fuel price rise & consumer inflation. It's clear that GOI doesn't want to discuss prices at any price!"

In Rajya Sabha TMC’s Derek O'Brien said no discussion on price rise was allowed despite Opposition parties repeatedly trying to raise it.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the government is “not keen to resolve the problems of the poor, unemployed and farmers” while Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said called it a “breach of the commitment” slamming the government for not having a discussion on price rise even after allocating time for it in the Business Advisory Committee.

In the Lok Sabha DMK, Congress, NCP and Left parties this week repeatedly raised the demand for discussing price hike issues.

Opposition parties that failed to put up an impressive show against the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur and Punjab tried hard in and outside Parliament during this leg of the Budget Session to reorient the popular narrative on basic issues. AAP, which won Punjab, was also aggressive in the House and took the lead on many occasions but avoided getting into the contentious Hindutva issues.

On Monday members from Congress, TMC, Shiv Sena and some other Opposition parties walked out of the Lok Sabha protesting against the fuel price hike.

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