Shot in the arm for ‘isolated’ Congress

NEW DELHI: The impact of the Supreme Court’s Wednesday verdict restoring the Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh will be felt not only in the state but also in Delhi, especially during the monsoon session of Parliament.

The restoration of the Congress governments in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh in a span of two months is a big blow to the ruling BJP at the Centre and brings hope to the Congress of a consolidation of opposition parties.

The jubilation in the Congress following the scrapping of President’s Rule in Uttarakhand on May 11 was short-lived as the party suffered a huge setback in the following week, losing Assam to the BJP and Kerala to the Left.

Awed by the BJP’s debut in Assam and the opposition party’s continuing downslide in the recent round of assembly polls, most regional parties seemed to be gravitating towards the BJP.

The court ruling turned the tables on Wednesday.

“We said it earlier. The government erred in Arunachal Pradesh,” said Bhartruhari Mehtab, a senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader.

Asked if his party will make the SC ruling an issue in the monsoon session, he said, “Definitely.” And this came from a party perceived to be friendly with the BJP, at least in terms of its support to the government’s legislative agenda.

Crucial assembly polls, especially in UP, Punjab and Uttarakhand, are slated early next year and the NDA may face combined opposition from regional parties in Parliament. Until Wednesday, the Congress seemed isolated as even the Left looked inclined to ditch it in its opposition to the Constitution Amendment Bill for rolling out the GST. The isolation forced senior Congress leaders to re-visit their stance on the so-called GST bill and tone down their rhetoric against capping the GST rate in the Constitution bill only.

It’s difficult to predict whether the party’s ‘victory’ in Arunachal will mean a return to intransigence on this issue.

If regional parties rally around the Congress on the misuse of Article 356 by the NDA and their coordination goes beyond this issue, it might jeopardise the government’s agenda in the monsoon session. Politically, the Congress stands to gain from Wednesday’s verdict in poll-bound Manipur where dissident MLAs were said to be in touch with the BJP to topple the Okram Ibobi Singh government. Himachal Pradesh CM Virbhadra Singh has been accusing the BJP of trying to destabilise his government.

The two Congress CMs may have heaved a sigh of relief as Wednesday’s verdict may check what the opposition party believes is the BJP’s rapacious tendency to further its “Congress-mukt Bharat” agenda.