Behind the Parliament standoff: How HM's absence, delimitation bill and FCRA played out

New Delhi: As the monsoon session was virtually paralysed over the government-Opposition standoff on the issue of police action against the student protesters in New Delhi and the related demand for the home minister's statement, the Opposition circles feel they, for once in recent times, managed to wrest the narrative and optics from the ruling side, besides 'forestalling' the government's anticipated second push with the Constitution amendment bill on delimitation.

At the same time, both the Opposition and ruling sides are now evidently bracing for pushback on the ground, beyond Parliament.

Opposition leaders feel the PM and home minister - two leaders who dominated the Parliament floor session after session - choosing to keep away from the two Houses on most days in the face of united Opposition protests helped the Opposition score some brownie points, besides weaving a narrative that the top two of the ruling establishment were pushed to the back foot.


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However, beyond sound bites, some parliamentarians feel that the home minister's absence was less to do with a sudden loss of nerves and was more about buying tactical time for gathering dossiers about students' protests and its aftermath. Opposition camps were conscious of the many rounds of meetings the home minister held with senior security and intelligence officers.

The parliamentary affairs minister, and subsequently the home minister himself, stating towards the final overs of the session of the latter's readiness for a full-fledged debate and reply on the students' agitation alerted the Opposition that the ruling side was perhaps ready with an 'ammunition' and a counter narrative.

STEELING FOR PUSHBACK

The Opposition's rejection of the debate offer by adding more demands - including the HM's resignation, debate on the Ayodhya issue and the PM's apology - was seen as an attempt to scuttle the government's bid to wrest back the narrative through the HM's statement and possible 'disclosures'. But as the session ended without debate, political circles are closely watching whether the HM would now use platforms outside Parliament to state his side of the story and thus set a new narrative.

Equally, the focus is now on the investigating team's upcoming report to the government and the court on the students' protests and its fallout. Political circles are divided on whether persistent focus on students' issues was also tapped by the ruling side to minimise the parliamentary glare on the embarrassing theft at the Ram temple.

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The manner in which another students' agitation and police action flared up in Jharkhand signals that such protests are now a two-way political lane. The guessing game has already started as to which state could be next in line. CJP's plan to expand its agenda and outreach adds to the suspense.

DELIMITATION-FCRA TRADEOFF?

While the Opposition is happy that the government couldn't venture out for a second push of the delimitation bill when the Houses were "not in order", yet the INDIA bloc, shrunk by recent exits and defections, was unsure about having the numbers to again vote out the Constitution amendment bill. That makes many leaders feel the government's decision to refer the contentious FCRA bill to the JPC was less to do with Congress protest and more to do with pressure from external lobbies. It was also seen as a 'way to try to pacify DMK and NCP-SP's anti-FCRA bill feelings to smoothen their possible tactical collaboration with the delimitation bill next time'. All these, along with moves for the next round of assembly polls, make plots simmer beyond the Parliament standoff.