Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 31
A day after the government managed the numbers to get the contentious triple talaq Bill past Parliament, Congress appeared down and out, still recovering from the shock of faltering Opposition unity.
The passage of The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2019 is the second jolt to the Congress- led Opposition in less than a week. The last came recently when the government similarly managed to defeat a TMC-led resolution to refer the Right to Information Amendment Bill 2019 to a select committee of Rajya Sabha and passed the Bill in the Upper House.
In both cases, the government outmaneuvered an unprepared Opposition. Congress was in for major surprises on Tuesday as one of its sitting RS MPs Sanjay Sinh resigned and four others absented from proceedings later in the day reducing the strength of the House. The Congress strength stood reduced from 48 to 47 in RS yesterday after the shock resignation of Sinh late afternoon. During voting on triple talaq Bill, four party MPs were absent though a whip was in place. Congress managers did not indicate any action against absentee MPs that included Vivek Tankha (MP) and Partap Singh Bajwa (Punjab). Bajwa said he was away to Bengaluru yesterday.
“The government suddenly brought the Bill,” a senior Congress leader said when asked why the party looked so sloppy on floor strategy.
Asked if the triple talaq Bill would politically damage the Congress, Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana Kumari Selja said, “No. Everyone can see through BJP’s design. If they were so interested in the welfare of Muslim women, they would agree to Opposition’s amendments to de-criminalise the act of divorce. We were not against the Bill. We were against the specific clause on criminalisation.”
Congress strategy has, meanwhile, been found wanting on many occasions this session. Picture this — in Lok Sabha the Congress walked out and did not participate in the voting on triple talaq Bill. In Rajya Sabha, the Congress voted against the Bill.
The party continues to reel under absence of leadership with Rahul Gandhi unavailable and reluctant to even fill in till his successor take charge. He has been away to the US for the most part of session.
On the other hand, PM Modi has remained personally involved in improving the government’s legislative performance in RS. He is learnt to have called up BJD chief Naveen Patnaik and TRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao ahead of the voting on the RTI Bill. Both parties ended up aiding NDA strategy on the Bills. Also, BJP floor managers have been constantly engaged with fence sitters. The Congress has not even managed to ensure that all of its MPs vote as per its strategy on the two Bills.
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/3350law
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