The BJP doesn’t seem especially mindful of cooperating with the Opposition parties, especially the Congress, in the run-up to the Budget Session of Parliament, due to begin two weeks from now, so that a serious attempt may yet be made to get through some key items pending on the legislative agenda.
As the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes under increasing criticism for not even having properly begun viable processes that will yield results in future, and criticism has also come from industry which is regarded as a key constituency that had rooted for Mr Modi in light of the promise he held out, the leading man of the government has begun striking sour notes targeting the Congress.
At Paradip in Orissa, while inaugurating the refinery project of Indian Oil Corporation on Sunday, Mr Modi hit out at his principal opponent, saying the Congress did not bother about starting and completing projects on time. He was not restrained by the fact that under his own administration projects worth thousands of crores remain on hold due to onerous processes and bureaucratic inertia — the same maladies that have plagued Indian decision-making for decades.
And just a few days earlier, personalising politics completely while inaugurating the South Asian Games in the Northeast, the Prime Minister hit out at “a particular family” — meaning Sonia and Rahul Gandhi — for not letting the Rajya Sabha run so the government’s reform and development agenda may begin to show signs of life. He was obviously referring to the Congress’ opposition in the Upper House to the GST Bill as framed by his government.
But Mr Modi would recall that on the eve of the Winter Session of Parliament in December, he had taken the initiative to invite Mrs Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh to seek their cooperation to get the GST Bill through. He even agreed to get back to them on the points of disagreement they had with the government bill in a bid to reach a compromise.
But the government did not get back for a constructive engagement. That was a long time ago, and since then there have been numerous points of public wrangling between the two sides. That can hardly be said to be conducive to finding solutions. The PM has chosen official functions — in Orissa and in the Northeast — to hit out at the Opposition, indicating he is in election mode as Assembly polls are shortly due in four states. That is a pity. Perhaps it’s still not too late. Let the government seriously discuss GST with the Opposition, addressing some of its concerns. That has the potential to change the political climate.
