PM Modi reaches out to leftover allies

WINTER SESSION: With help from 18 Shiv Sena MPs, Opposition will be confronting government on issues of governance

The Shiv Sena’s exit has clearly unnerved the BJP and it is reaching out to its NDA allies, which had begun to feel that the ‘big brother’ was taking them for granted.

No surprise, therefore, that PM Modi on Sunday was talking about the grand NDA family whose members should not allow ‘‘small differences to unsettle them".

For once, PM Modi was speaking like a head of a family, not the government.

"Let us work together for the people. We have been given a massive mandate, let us respect that. We are likeminded parties despite not having the same ideology. Small differences should not unsettle us."

He added that a coordination committee should be formed for better coordination. "There should be better coordination among allies and an NDA convener should be appointed," said Lok Jan Shakti party Chief Chirag Paswan, while speaking to reporters after the NDA meeting prior to the onset of the winter session.

This peculiar problem had afflicted the Congress too – the tendency to ride roughshod over the allies. In Maharashtra, the BJP was always at pains to underscore that it is the elder brother and the Shiv Sena must accept its dominance.

‘‘It is a matter of concern that the Telugu Desam Party left the alliance first and then the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party did,’’ said Paswan, who was appointed the LJP chief earlier this month.

ALL-PARTY MEETING: PM Modi on Sunday also presided over an all-party meeting and promised that the government is ready to discuss all issues.

The assurance was made to the Opposition which raised concerns over economic slowdown and farm distress and demanded that detained Lok Sabha MP Farooq Abdullah be allowed to attend the House. Sources said there was no definite response from the government on the issue.

"The government is ready to discuss all issues within the framework of rules and procedures of the Houses," the prime minister was quoted as saying by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.

Sources close to Opposition party said the BJP will be also confronted in the session

on unemployment and manipulation of data, issues of governance which the party has been studiously avoiding. The last session, it will be recalled, was mostly taken up by legislative business.

The opposition will get help from an unlikely quarter – the Shiv Sena’s 18 MP’s are known for their high-decibel performance and are sure to keep the government on its toes. The honeymoon for the Modi government is surely over. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad was cynical about the prime minister's assurance that the government is ready to discuss all issues, saying that when it comes to taking up issues such as unemployment, economic slowdown, condition of farmers in the House, the government takes a different stand.

National Conference MP Hasnain Masoodi said they raised the issue of Farooq Abdullah's detention at the meeting and stressed that the government is under constitutional obligation to ensure his participation in the Parliament session.

"How can a parliamentarian be detained illegally? He should be allowed to attend Parliament," Azad said. He also demanded that former finance minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram be allowed to attend Parliament, saying there have been instances in past when in similar circumstances MPs have been allowed in the House.