Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
For nearly three weeks, Parliament has remained paralysed. Gen-Z protests over the NEET paper leak, the action of police and paramilitary forces on protesters in New Delhi, and the alleged donation theft at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, have stalled all discussions in the ongoing Monsoon Session. The Opposition has been stalling proceedings, demanding that Home Minister Amit Shah speak on the issues.
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Amid the impasse, the Narendra Modi government, accused by the Opposition of refusing dialogue and displaying political arrogance during the agitation, has now initiated an outreach to Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi in a bid to secure support for two significant legislations — amendments to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) and the proposed delimitation-linked Constitution Amendment Bill.
Rijiju’s 50-minute meeting with Gandhi on Wednesday, days after a telephone call between the two, triggered an important question. Has the prolonged Gen Z-led agitation forced the government to shift from confrontation to consensus? The sequence of events — weeks of nationwide protests, a washed-out Parliament, the BJP’s defeat in Bankipur and Datia, and finally a ministerial outreach — points out that the Modi government is now approaching a more accommodative stance, at least for legislation it wants to pass.
And, the government’s outreach has not been limited to Congress. Efforts are also underway to engage leaders of other Opposition parties, including Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party and the MK Stalin-led DMK.
Despite the outreach, no breakthrough has been reached as the Congress is insisting that Parliament could function only after Shah made a statement on the crackdown against protesters and a discussion was held on the alleged Ram Temple donation theft, reported news agency PTI.
AFTER WEEKS OF PARLIAMENT DEADLOCK, RIJIJU REACHES OUT
With the Monsoon Session virtually stalled since July 20, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju met Rahul Gandhi for nearly 50 minutes on Wednesday in Parliament. It was their second meeting in ten days and followed a phone call by Rijiju to Gandhi the previous night, reported The Hindu.
According to news agency PTI, the minister sought Congress’s views on two major bills it wants to pass. They are, the proposed Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, and the constitutional amendment linked to delimitation and the implementation of women’s reservation before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
The meeting was attended by Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, General Secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal and Jorhat MP Gaurav Gogoi from the Congress side.
Rijiju has maintained that his meeting with Rahul Gandhi was an attempt to restore dialogue.
“I’ve extended an offer to the LoP to engage in a conversation even if there are differences between the ruling side and Opposition. Let’s see what the Opposition is coming up with. But, as of now, there is no proposal to extend the ongoing session,” he told The Indian Express.
Earlier, government sources told India Today TV’s Himanshu Mishra that the Narendra Modi government was likely to push ahead the Delimitation Bill and the Women’s Reservation Amendment Bill in a special session of Parliament soon after the Monsoon Session ended on August 13.
Later, describing the interaction with the Congress leaders as a “courtesy” meeting, Rijiju told news agency PTI that, “There’s no proposal to have any special session from August 16 to 18 on women’s reservation and delimitation bills.”
CONGRESS HAS NOT BUDGED ON DELIMITATION, FCRA BILL
Rijiju’s outreach, however, has not yielded any breakthrough so far.
Rahul Gandhi reiterated that two issues remained non-negotiable if Parliament was to function normally. They are: a statement by Shah on the July 20 police action against students protesting in Delhi, and a discussion on the alleged donation theft at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, according to government and Congress sources cited by PTI, The Indian Express and The Hindu.
“Rijiju came with the government’s agenda — the Prime Minister’s agenda. But we are very clear about our demands and the issues we want to discuss. We want a discussion on the ‘Chanda Chori’ scam. We have also been demanding a statement from the Union Home Minister, who is responsible for the police firing and atrocities against students,” Venugopal was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
The Congress also reiterated its opposition to the proposed delimitation exercise in its current form.
WHY THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS THE OPPOSITION
The Centre’s outreach to the Congress and other parties on the opposition benches is the need of the hour.
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill linked to delimitation and women’s reservation would require a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
During the extended Budget Session earlier this year, the government failed to secure the required numbers. It was the first constitutional amendment defeat of the Modi government.
Although the NDA’s numbers have improved after the support of 20 TMC MPs joining the NCPI, and the merger of seven Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, the ruling alliance is still short of the required constitutional majority.
Even if all NDA allies support the legislation, backing from sections of the Opposition would still be crucial.
FLEXIBILITY AN EFFECT OF GEN Z PROTEST OR BJP’S BIG RESET?
The Centre’s new-found love for consultative legislation comes amid what several experts argued to be the Modi government’s biggest political crisis in recent years.
The CJP-led agitation of the Gen Z-ers dominated headlines for weeks. Widespread protests and police action in Delhi eventually resulted in Pradhan’s resignation as the Union education minister.
Critics have also said that one electoral victory after another has made the BJP arrogant. They have cited the result of the Bankipur bypoll to argue that the victory of Prashant Kishor over the BJP candidate from a seat vacated by the party’s national president was voter reaction to its arrogance.
With the outreach, the BJP might be trying to correct that rigid and unrelenting image. It could also be a desperate attempt to get the Parliament functioning. The government has lined up crucial bills for this session, and the repeated adjournments aren’t helping.
Since the Monsoon Session began, the Opposition has repeatedly stalled proceedings over the NEET issue, demanding accountability from Home Minister Shah for police action against student protesters. Question Hour has not functioned even once, while some Bills have been passed amid disruptions without debate.
The government’s decision to initiate negotiations after nearly two weeks of legislative paralysis has fuelled questions about whether the Gen-Z protests have altered its parliamentary strategy. Also, there are reasons why the government’s outreach is attracting attention. The meeting with LoP Rahul came just two days after the BJP suffered setbacks in the Bankipur bypoll in Bihar and Datia in Madhya Pradesh.
Now, even as the government is reaching out to the Opposition in a bid to let the Parliament function, the Congress has not softened its position. Both sides remain firm on their principal demands. The good thing is that channels of communication have opened. Discussions are underway. It’s just that the discussion is not taking place on the floor of Parliament, but behind closed doors.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
