Anita Katyal | Now it’ll be NJAC vs judges’ quotas; Mamata’s trip to UK raises jeers

The revival of the debate on the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act following the discovery of cash at the residence of a Delhi high court judge has put Opposition parties in a fix. Though they had initially supported the constitution of an NJAC, they now have strong reservations about giving the Narendra Modi government a say in the appointment and transfer of judges. No one in the Opposition is saying so openly but it fears the BJP will use this opportunity to push for the inclusion of judges ideologically inclined to it. On the other hand, it cannot be seen to be endorsing corrupt practices. While a final view is yet to emerge, there is a suggestion that if and when the Modi government makes a concrete move on the NJAC Act, the Opposition should push for reservations for Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes in the appointment of judges, which will be in line with its ongoing demand for a caste census. Given its dilemma, the Opposition decided to play it safe at the all-party meeting called last week by vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar where he made a strong case for revisiting the NJAC Act in the light of the latest scandal which has rocked the judiciary. The Act, giving the executive a say in the appointment and transfer of judges, was passed by Parliament with bipartisan support in 2014 but was subsequently struck down by the Supreme Court.

*

There was a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party was known for its stellar performance as an Opposition party. But it now appears to be losing its touch. At least that is what reports from Jammu and Kashmir indicate. As the main Opposition party in the state Assembly, the BJP is in a quandary on how it should perform its role. The party is not sure on what issue it should pillory the Omar Abdullah government and how aggressive it should be. Whenever the BJP legislators protest and criticise the state government, they are caught on the wrong foot as the ruling party never fails to remind the BJP that it was their party which was running the government for the past six years when the newly-created Union Territory had no Assembly and was under President’s rule. A clueless BJP just doesn’t know how to respond to this jibe and has no option but to raise sundry slogans and stage a walk out of the Assembly, well aware that the lieutenant governor continues to yield immense power even after the installation of an elected government.

*

Except for his recent soundbite about not being allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has been lying low for some time now. This change could be attributed to the Congress Party’s dismal performance in recent Assembly elections. Still to recover from these losses, Rahul Gandhi and other top party leaders are now focusing on strengthening the party organisation. Last week, in his meeting with Bihar Congress leaders, Rahul Gandhi did not hesitate to pull them up for not working on the ground and told them bluntly that there was no point bargaining with their allies for more seats if they were to lose a bulk of them. The meetings with party district chiefs were aimed at their greater involvement in poll planning and selection of candidates. These came with a rider that the district chiefs would be held accountable for the electoral outcome in their respective areas.

*

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been the target of sneers and jeers by Kolkata’s snotty brown sahibs over her trip to the United Kingdom. The city bhadraloks are particularly amused that the invitation to speak at Kellogg College in Oxford has been publicised as an invite from the Oxford University. Kellogg College is a fairly new institution, having been set up in 1990, and is billed as Oxford University’s most international college. They also appear pleased that Ms Banerjee’s lecture was disrupted by angry protesters. The chief minister’s political rivals are expectedly unimpressed with her visit as they recall that Ms Banerjee had once declared she would transform Kolkata into London and promised a London Eye on the Hooghly river bank.

*

Every now and then, the high-profile Congress MP Shashi Tharoor makes some statement which sets tongues wagging about his future plans. Last week, presiding over the launch of former Union education secretary Satya Mohanty’s book titled, UnPolitically Correct: The Politics and Economics of Governance, Mr Tharoor heaped praise on the Modi government’s vaccine policy during the Covid pandemic when India stepped in to distribute vaccines to less developed countries while developing nations looked the other way. These complimentary remarks were immediately pounced upon by Mr Tharoor’s detractors in the Congress who maintained he was making overtures to the BJP. But the appointment of Rajeev Chandrasekhar as president of the BJP’s Kerala unit is being seen as a hurdle as Mr Tharoor was unlikely to work under the new BJP state chief as they had faced off in the last Lok Sabha election. Mr Tharoor defeated Mr Chandrasekhar by a narrow margin. We now await a new episode on Mr Tharoor.