Time for sound & fury

 Opposition parties are unlikely to give this time the NDA government the kind of cooperation extended during the Budget session of Parliament. They are more or less united against the BJP government, which lacks a majority in the Rajya Sabha. Leave alone wooing opposition parties to get key Bills passed, the BJP is not on good terms even with its allies. The unilateral approach will extract its price. If a joint sitting of Parliament is called as a last resort to push important legislation, it would take time and the winter session may not show any concrete results. The government may, therefore, continue to face the criticism of being "big on vision and short on execution".  

An indication of the storm ahead was available on Sunday when Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress stayed away from the all-party meeting. It plans to agitate on the issues of black money and communalism. The Congress too is unlikely to play along even though some of the laws to be passed were initiated by its government. The party opposes even the insurance Bill as it says the BJP has brought in substantive changes, including an alteration in the definition of FDI to cover foreign portfolio investments. The Opposition stand on the GST (Goods and Services Tax) is unclear, while states are yet to overcome their differences. The recently formed Janata Parivar, which comprises parties such as the Janata Dal (United), the RJD, the Samajwadi Party and the INLD, which together control 25 seats in the Rajya Sabha, has made known its strategy of protesting any changes in the pro-farmer land acquisition law. The BJP is under pressure from the industrialists' lobby to make it industry-friendly for the success of Modi's "Make in India" campaign.

MPs spend more time on playing politics in Parliament as dictated by their respective political parties rather than do the job for which they are elected. Laws are usually passed without a serious debate. No matter which party or coalition is in power, Parliament's functioning largely remains chaotic and disorderly. Will the Modi government bring in any change?