Govt on backfoot as 11 parties gang up as a block

UPA's attempt to push through Rahul Gandhi's pet six anti-corruption bills in last session of Parliament before polls seems to be coming to naught

The Congress-led UPA government’s attempt at pushing through Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s pet six anti- corruption bills in this last session of Parliament before the 2014 polls, seems to be coming to naught with not just the Opposition BJP scuttling its attempts at pushing any bill but the gamut of non-Congress and non–BJP parties ganging up as a block. The coming together of 11 parties -- four Left parties, Samajwadi Party, JD(U), AIADMK, AGP, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, JD(S) and BJD -- on a single platform in the run up to the polls, was apparently a bid to pitch for a pro-people, anti-communal agenda.

   
The leaders of these parties met in Parliament today and stated this was a taking forward of the agenda that had been thrashed out in October at the Left parties backed anti-communal convention.  

Addressing the media, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said, “The block has been set up primarily to raise issues affecting the people in Parliament.” Asked whether this block should be called a Third front, Yechury said “Don't get into abstractions, we are all here (from various parties) sitting together. You can see us all together. Whoever claims of talking to someone or some party is all a claim and therefore is an abstraction.

Incidentally, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has also called upon political parties to form a federal front.

Yechury made clear that the 11 parties “will ensure that no bill is passed amid the din” as the ruling party and UPA could use the legislations to launch their poll campaign. The UPA is attempting to push through its six anti- corruption bills in this session. Yechury reiterated, “We want to have a debate on them, but it is the prime responsibility of the ruling party to create conditions to have such a discussion in the House. We saw today that Congress members and even their Ministers are on loggerheads over Telangana. They are vociferously and angrily divided and disrupting the House. They are actually helping communal forces.”

And in a most unkind cut to the government said, “We will not allow them (Congress) to use this as a launching pad for elections.”

Asked about the future of a such a front given its previous track record, JD(U) chief Sharad yadav said, “A joint programme will be launched later which will be the second step.” The programme will contain issues relating to the livelihood of the people, upholding federalism and secular-democratic foundations and combating corruption.

The block was ambivalent on the status of Samajwadi Party who continued to support UPA from the outside.
Those who attended the meeting included former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda,  M Thambidurai (AIADMK), Basudeb Acharia (CPI-M), K C Tyagi (JD-U), Jay Panda (BJD), Biren Baishya (AGP) and Ramgopal Yadav (SP), D Raja (CPI), Manohar Tirkey (RSP) and Barun Mukherjee (Forward Bloc).