BJP, Left mull House co-ordination

After voting with sworn political enemy Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against its one-time ally, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) last year, the Left is again considering floor co-ordination with the saffron brigade in Parliament.

This time, it is the country’s original comrades—the CPI—that have extended their hand to tackle an “aggressive” UPA government and “protect the right of the Opposition as well as Parliament”.

The CPI(M), the big brother of Indian Communists today, however, may decide to play safe and not join this rainbow coalition. If the CPI(M) doesn’t agree to be a part of this political bandwagon for floor co-ordination, the idea of an opposition grand alliance is likely to fall flat.

CPI leader in the Lok Sabha, Gurudas Dasgupta, met Sushma Swaraj in the last session of Parliament to explore the possibility of this informal but tacit understanding.

According to top BJP sources, Dasgupta sought an appointment with Swaraj, the deputy leader of the BJP in the Lok Sabha, and asked if there could be some understanding to ensure a concerted attack on the government on the floor of the House. He also said, his party (with 4 MPs in the Lok Sabha) wanted to raise important issues related to the problems of the aam aadmi but a fractured opposition made this ineffective.

Dasgupta told Business Standard he saw no harm is coordinating with the BJP on the floor of the House. “The UPA government tends to act in an aggressive manner frequently. The right of the Opposition as well as the right of Parliament is being infringed by the government. We need to protect our rights. All parties on the opposition bench must come together against this attitude of the government. We must speak to each other to coordinate,” Dasgupta told Business Standard.

His counterpart in CPI(M), Basudeb Acharia claims he is totally opposed to this idea: “There is no question of any understanding with the BJP. We will oppose the government’s policies in our own way.”

Swaraj, according to sources, didn’t reject Dasgupta’s proposal but asked him first to talk to the CPI(M) and bring the bigger Communist force on board as well. Swaraj clearly told Dasgupta that without CPI(M) - the party with 16 Lok Sabha MPs - an understanding will not be meaningful.