The most important aspect of the Budget Session of Parliament is for the Lok Sabha to pass the finance bill that will green-signal the way the government plans to go in spending the moneys it has collected from taxation and non-tax receipts, and the way it proposes to go about collecting tax.
No government which can muster a majority in the elected House need fear about piloting the finance bill successfully, and the government that Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads has more than just a comfortable majority. But that said, a lot of politics is standard fare for any parliamentary sitting. And this is where the government could be expected to be on the backfoot in the Budget Session commencing today.
It is likely to seek to push back by giving key status to the question of nationalism, which has been exacerbated by the recent happenings related to the arrest of the JNU Students’ Union president on the charge of sedition, no less — a blatantly reckless and opportunist action.
In the Indian context this links up seamlessly with the secularism-communalism debate, which has been with us practically from the time the Modi government took office and was especially highlighted when there was a ferocious discussion on the question of “intolerance” in recent months.
The PM cannot but be aware of the government’s vulnerability on this score. This sensitive issue is popping up at the same time as questions relating to national security — the Pathankot attack and its handling, the rising tempo of unrest in Kashmir, and the not so clear-cut dealings with Pakistan. This is a volatile mix which is likely to keep the Rajya Sabha, where the government is in a minority, on the boil.
Making matters worse, there are other key issues, such as the agrarian crisis and the dissatisfaction in the farming community across the country, the issue of high prices for farmers, unchecked unemployment, the falling value of the Indian rupee in spite of a favourable situation engendered by the much-lowered international price of oil, and the sensitive dalit question, highlighted recently by the circumstances that led to the suicide of Hyderabad university research scholar Rohith Vemula.
Sensing the political negatives, Mr Modi has gone on the offensive, and accused some elements in speeches in Orissa and Chhattisgarh of hatching a “conspiracy” to “target” him because he was a “chaiwala’s son”. This typifies this PM’s personalised style of politics. It will be interesting to see if the “chaiwala” rhetoric still has a ring as BJP and several other parties ready themselves for Assembly polls in five states in April-May. The ensuing session will also be a test for the Opposition’s ability to cohere and come together.
