Today, SIR dispute in Parliament with a serious dispute between the Government and Opposition over the immediate discussion of SIR, which the Government is still refusing to concede. This continued denial brings greater suspicion from within the ranks of the Opposition. Leaders are expecting a cloud of uncertainty to surround the early days of the Session and are preparing for significant protests. Thus, the Session opens with significant disagreements between the two sides.
Opposition Signals Unity, Plans Emergency Actions Over SIR Debate
They have given signals to suggest that this time around, they are making conscious efforts at unity. the are regarding SIR as a big unifying issue amongst themselves. intend to carry out emergency actions inside Parliament. They have also given indications that they may carry out demonstrations as well. The series of actions follows previous skirmishes between the Government and Opposition on the issue of SIR. However, Government leaders have written formally to call for the cooperation of the Opposition in moving forward with SIR. They insisted that SIR would remain under the Elections Commission, SIR dispute in Parliament.
Political parties expect SIR to have substantive electoral ramifications for them in the near future. At present, SIR applies to several States run by the Opposition, and many of those States have State Assembly elections scheduled within the next year. So, they see SIR as an urgent issue. They took it up during their interactions with the Government. However, though all parties brought up the issue, the Government has not given any firm assurance. “They listened patiently but did not make any commitment to do anything,” an Opposition leader said.
Opposition prepares joint plan despite internal strains.
These parties are starting to identify areas of commonality for cooperation despite differences among their own members and factions. While Congress is still assessing the damage from the elections in Bihar, the Trinamool Congress has already declared that it would undertake an aggressive campaign against the Sardar Sarovar Dam project. Similarly, the leadership of both the DMK and Left fronts felt that their stakes in this issue were also very high. Elections in both states would be held shortly and would be important to the entire opposition coalition.
In the meantime, the opposition’s concern goes beyond Sardar Sarovar. It is a perception that it might overshadow some relevant discussions between the USA and India, including trade relations, the recent comments by President Trump on H-1B visas, the recent bomb blast issues in Delhi, etc. The majority of opposition parties, however, seem to be most concerned about the Sardar Sarovar Dam.
Session becomes high-stakes political battleground.
Government leaders moved motions relating to Vande Mataram on the condition that amendments to GST be allowed, which would take precedence over the discussion on Vande Mataram. Opposition benches enraged, arguing that the government was trying to avoid scrutiny by not allowing their motion to take precedence. Now, opposition leaders are raising bigger issues related to elections: “The security of voter lists and election security,” says Gaurav Gogoi, among many other points concerning the environment and economy. There has been a lot of tension and preparation for a long battle on both sides of the aisle during this session.
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