Oppn solidarity gives BJP a taste of things to come

What is particularly worrying for the BJP is the fact that the Opposition’s common agenda saw sworn enemies like Mayawati, Mulayam Singh and Laloo Yadav join hands in unspoken floor coordination to embarrass the Government.

While Mulayam Singh may balk at talking directly to Mayawati, he obviously has no such qualms in dealing with her MPs and the Samajwadi Party supremo was seenactively encouraging Arif Mohammed Khan of the BSP to go hammer and tongs at the BJP, whether on the Speaker’s election or on today’s bribery charge.

Within minutes, they had the Lok Sabha resembling the UP Assembly and the new Speaker’s helplessness was evident at every step.

Narasimha Rao had an added advantage in his Speaker, Shivraj Patil, who ran the House with an iron hand. The BJP, on the other hand, is saddled with an inexperienced Speaker in G M C Balayogi who was foisted on the Government in a last minute bargain for numbers with the TDP.

Much to the chagrin of the BJP, Balayogi nearly ended up admitting Khan’s privilege motion against the party in the din this morning. Later in the day, a senior BJP leader ruefully said that they may have to put the new Speaker through a crash course in Lok Sabha rules and regulations if the Government wants to get through the critical budget session without hiccups.

It is too early to say whether the anti-BJPism of the Opposition can coalesce into apolitical front. But the BJP camp could not have ignored the signals sent out by the two Yadav leaders, Mulayam Singh and Laloo, who made sure that they sat together during the election of the Speaker on Tuesday. It was the second public indication of the bond cementing the Opposition.The first was the sharing of a platform earlier in the day by United Front leaders and long-time Congress baiters, Jaipal Reddy and Ram Vilas Paswan, with Congress Lok Sabha leader Sharad Pawar to denounce the BJP on the Speaker issue.

The Opposition has not given up its efforts to woo away some of the smaller parties from the BJP alliance and Haryana Lok Dal chief Om Prakash Chautala is considered a soft target. Certainly, unless the BJP concedes to his demand to snap ties with his rival, Bansi Lal, Chautala will remain an unreliable ally for the Government. The Opposition has served notice to the Government in this brief session that it intends to make things as difficult as it can for the BJP-led coalition.

Necessarylegislative business like the interim railway budget and the vote-on-account may pass but on all other issues, it will clearly be an uphill task for the Government all the way.