Opinion - News Analysis

Opposition unity to the fore

By K. K. Katyal

NEW DELHI APRIL 25. The Opposition parties have reason to be happy with the conclusion of the first phase of ``Operation Gujarat'' in Parliament. First, it marks the success of their joint coordinated functioning in Parliament, the second such instance in the current session _ the first being their united stand against POTO. Second, they will get the debate-cum-vote opportunity both in the Lok Sabha and in the Upper House as insisted upon by them. Third, the ruling of the Deputy Speaker, P. M. Sayeed, is music to their ears: it rejects the Government stand to block voting in the Lower House _ on the ground that the happenings in Gujarat could not be treated as a simple law and order problem related only to the State and that the Centre had a responsibility under Article 355 of the Constitution ``to protect the State against internal disturbances and ensure that the Government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.''

The discussion on Gujarat will be highly important, even though the Lok Sabha vote may not go against the Government. It will underscore the urgency of taking effective, meaningful steps to control the situation and reverse the divisive trends. It will show that the biggest institution of our democratic dispensation _ Parliament _ is not a helpless spectator to the carnage in one part of the country and that it has risen to the occasion and called for urgent remedial steps. The Press, the National Human Rights Commission and the judiciary (in another, though not an unrelated case, Ayodhya) have already made their contribution.

Of the longer-term significance is the Opposition parties developing the habit of working together in Parliament, so as to make the best use of the opportunities provided by the rules of procedure to indict the BJP-led Government. Their sustained resistance to POTO forced the Government to make use of the rarest of rare devices _ of convening a joint sitting of the two Houses _ to consider the measure.

The whispering campaign inspired by the Government side _ that the Congress(I) was not serious in its opposition to the measure _ to create divisions in the Opposition did not work. Floor coordination _ and the strategy sessions to work out details _ was a recognised practice during the days when the Congress(I) was in power.

After the turning of political tables when the BJP and its allies formed the Government, the new Opposition was unable to continue that practice. In part this was due to the lack of contacts between the Congress(I), the main force in the Opposition, and others and, in part, to the seeming reluctance of the Congress(I) to take the initiative.

Both these problems had been overcome. The thread was first picked up by the CPI(M) leader, Somnath Chatterjee, who convened meetings of Opposition seniors on the eve of parliamentary sessions to chalk out the coordination strategy. However, the suspicions between the Congress(I) and other Opposition groups detracted from the efficacy of floor coordination. The Congress(I) was blamed for abdicating its responsibility as the largest party and, at the same time, there was some hesitation in doing business with the leader of the Congress(I) Parliamentary Party, Sonia Gandhi. Both these problems are a thing of the past _ and the result is there for all to see.

The success of floor coordination, however, does not mean an advance towards the other goal _ formation of a joint anti-BJP front, to plan a joint campaign against the Government's policies and capable of providing an alternative if and when the occasion arises.

The leaders of various groups are no longer allergic to each other and have been meeting at social levels, but they have not been able to get over their mutual misgivings. Had that not been the case, the Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav would have sought _ and got _ active support of the Congress(I) in the efforts to form a new government in U.P. The non-Congress(I) Opposition activated the plans for a third front and this, obviously, was not liked by the Congress(I). It had another unintended result _ it found the Trinamool Congress back in the NDA camp with assurances of firm support. Mamata Banerjee could not have been happy with the ascendancy of the third front, of which the CPI(M) is to be a leading constituent.

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