As the Winter Session of Parliament began last week, memories of government-Opposition bonhomie that resulted in the clearing of the Nuclear Liability Bill in the Monsoon Session, receded rapidly. The government was comprehensively put on the mat by the Opposition on a triad of corruption scams that preceded the session ?the spectrum scam, the CWG mess and the Adarsh society imbroglio.
It is the job of the Opposition to make the government of the day uncomfortable. But just what is it that happened in the interregnum between the Monsoon and the Winter Session that has made the Opposition go for the government?s jugular?
After all, the spectrum issue is an old one, the Commonwealth Games were successfully concluded and some skeletons involving the BJP too have tumbled out of the closet. But the wind in the Opposition?s campaign was provided by the Adarsh Society scam, which simply tipped the scales in the Opposition?s favour.
?The silence of the Congress leadership on what became a series of corruption scandals has made it a hot issue,? said BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Prakash Javadekar.
Many Opposition leaders admit that the appeal of corruption scandals in terms of cornering the government has been blunted in recent years because of low conviction rates and the tendency of political scalp-hunting without actual accountability. ?The last two scams, the CWG and the Adarsh Society, however, have a strong emotional connect with the people. One was about national pride being put at stake and the other was an emotive issue of war widows being deprived of their rights,? said a top BJP leader.
In fact, Congress leaders also feel that the unique nature of these scams has done them in. ?The first tip-off that this was going to be a problematic session came during the opening ceremony of the CWG where the organising committee members were booed and the crowd was very vocal,? said a senior Congress leader.
So does the Opposition really expect to target A Raja in the same way as Ashok Chavan? Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley does not hold out much hope of the government daring to anger an important ally. ?We have repeatedly seen the government choose survival over morality. And in this case too we do not expect the government to do any different,? he said.
AICC in-charge for media, Janardan Dwivedi, too echoed a similar sentiment. ?The minister concerned is a member of an important ally party of the government, it is for them to ponder over what they want to do, what can I say??
It seems the exit of Prithviraj Chavan from Delhi and his job as parliamentary affairs minister has also meant saying goodbye to the fragile peace between the treasury benches and the Opposition which he had brokered over the Nuclear Liability Bill.