Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had a surprise visitor in his Parliament office during the early part of this Monsoon Session. It was leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, who walked over to his office to counsel patience after Mukherjee had lost his temper at a few MPs from the Telugu Desam Party in the House. ?Pranabda, please don?t lose your temper this way. It is bad for your health and you are far too valuable to us,? Swaraj is reported to have said to an utterly charmed Mukherjee.

If this appears to be a marked contrast from the seriously strained relationship between the government and the Opposition in the last Lok Sabha, it is. The last Lok Sabha began with the Opposition quarrelling with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his alleged bad behaviour to a delegation led by LK Advani. An exchange of the sort between Swaraj and Mukherjee was indeed a far cry in the regime of UPA-I.

This bonhomie seems to have spilled over to some legislative matters as well, with the Opposition helping the government out of a tight spot on the Women?s Reservation Bill and the Civil Liabilities for Nuclear Damages Bill.

But what is behind this cooperation? Has the Opposition been co-opted? According to Swaraj, that is not so. ?We feel that in Bills like the Women?s Reservation Bill and the Nuclear Liability Bill, the Opposition?s input is important. These are long-term Bills affecting policy, and we want our stamp on it,? she said. Mukherjee, in fact, has sought the help of Swaraj and leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley in getting the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill cleared?something that might happen sooner rather than later.

It is not as though the government is getting its way on all matters all the time. Home minister P Chidambaram argued with Swaraj on clearing the NDMC Bill, but to no avail. The Bill was referred to the standing committee as per the Opposition?s insistence.

More than anything else, government managers say, this new mood is reflective of the generational change in the BJP. Swaraj and Jaitley, pushing 60, are of an age and temperament that the government finds a little easier to handle.

?With Advani, there was a lot of distance, especially after the last election campaign where very personal and bitter comments were made. Swaraj has a different approach and style, a little homely, and the age difference makes a huge change,? said a senior minister in the government.

Swaraj?s remarks about Sonia Gandhi in 2004 also seem to be a thing of the past. The two had a very cordial exchange as soon as Swaraj had taken over as leader of the Opposition a few months ago. Chits and notes are going to and fro between the treasury and Opposition benches with great frequency with real time co-ordination.

A senior BJP leader sought to put it in a different way. ?Both these leaders are finding their own style and find it useless to oppose for the sake of opposing. On matters of price rise, the 2G spectrum etc they are one with the Opposition and the Left, but on the Women?s Reservation Bill and the Nuclear Liability Bill, both these leaders felt that the party had more to gain by trying to influence policies that would come in anyway rather than be obstructionist,? said a senior leader heading an important parliamentary committee.

In a Session when the Opposition moved an Adjournment Motion on price rise and held up Parliament for five working days, it also bailed the government out on important policy matters.

?Politics is the art of the possible. With the new dispensation in the Opposition, both the government and the BJP appear to be testing the limits of those possibilities,? said a senior government manager.