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Opposition gearing to take on Govt. in Parliament

By Our New Delhi Bureau

NEW DELHI JULY 17. The Opposition parties are gearing themselves to take on the Vajpayee Government in the monsoon session of Parliament, which begins on Monday. The Railways and the Defence Ministries are likely to be specially targeted.

The session would provide clues as to how effectively the Congress will be able to implement its Shimla resolve to work out coalition relationships with non-BJP parties; in particular, the Congress' success in evolving a coordinated floor strategy will be the first indication whether the other Opposition parties have responded in kind to the "Shimla signals".

The Samajwadi Party has already struck a discordant note. "While we are fighting the BSP-BJP combine, the Congress is intent on fighting us," the party's general secretary, Amar Singh, said. The Samajwadi Party is still cut up with the Congress' decision to field a candidate in the recent by-election in Cherigaon in Uttar Pradesh. "They lost their deposit but ensured the victory of the BSP candidate."

Other Opposition parties such as Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), the Lok Janshakti Party of Ram Vilas Paswan and Laloo Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), however, appear keen on joining hands with the Congress. "We must not only have floor coordination inside Parliament, but all the secular parties must join hands outside as well," Mr. Paswan said.

Mr. Ajit Singh and RJD's Raghuvansh Prasad Singh shared his views. "The Congress must take the lead in putting together an alliance against the BJP," Mr. Ajit Singh said. The RJD leadership was of the view that secular parties should put the past behind and join hands both inside and outside Parliament. "For us defeating the BJP is the top priority, we will extend total cooperation in this effort,'' said Mr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, who is also the leader of the RJD Parliamentary Party in the Lok Sabha.

Cong. meets

Senior Congress leaders have for the past two days held in-house strategy sessions in order to identify issues to be taken up in Parliament. Besides the functioning of the Railway and Defence Ministries, the party would also seek an Action Taken Report on the Joint Parliamentary Committee report on the stock market scam, which included the Unit Trust of India.

The Congress leaders are scheduled to meet again on Saturday to finalise the thrust areas and work on the floor coordination with other Opposition parties.

The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, has convened a meeting of Opposition parties on Sunday and has extended invitation to the Left Parties, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party and the Nationalist Congress Party, among others. This would be preceded by a Left parties' coordination meeting. The CPI(M) would also restart its weekly coordination meeting of Opposition parties. The party seeks to enlarge the assembly by inviting the National Conference and the Rashtriya Lok Dal, which quit the National Democratic Alliance recently.

Nitish resignation issue

With the number of Railway accidents going up, passenger safety is an area of serious concern. Both the Congress and the CPI(M) are planning to grill the Railway Minister on the subject.

The Congress has criticised the recent resignation of Nitish Kumar for political reasons and not on moral grounds in the wake of the accidents. The Left parties had demanded Mr. Kumar's resignation following the accidents.

Defence preparedness and the rising number of fighter jet crashes is another area of focus for the Opposition.

The Congress' concern found reflection in Ms. Gandhi's closing speech at the Shimla Shivir. It alleged that despite the Kargil tragedy, the Government "remained negligent" and pointed fingers at the Hill Kaka operation as a case in point.

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