Opposition failed to take on govt

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 25

As the curtains closed down on the Budget Session of the Vidhan Sabha today, a toned-down Opposition could not take on the Akali-BJP government on any of the issues. Be it the alleged involvement of a senior minister in the synthetic drug case, the poor state of economy or the Land Acquisition Bill, the Congress MLAs could not take the government to task.

The big achievement of the Congress, however, was that the Opposition Benches seemed to be a more disciplined force, with Congress MLAs following the set pattern discussed outside the House. After a long time, party “unity” was on display in the Vidhan Sabha, with MLAs not interrupting or countering each other. The party also made its mark in highlighting the “hidden” figures in the Budget, the non-implementation of certain welfare schemes etc.

But what blunted their attack was that most Congress MLAs were unable to back their initial firing on the Treasury Benches with more facts and figures. Each time the ruling party MLAs or ministers countered the charges leveled against them, the Congress MLAs were often unable to substantiate their charges.

On the other hand, the Akali Dal strategy, mooted by party president Sukhbir Singh Badal, to go on a “soft offensive” on the Opposition, seemed to have worked well. Even as the party’s alliance partner, BJP, decidedly remained aloof when the government was targeted on the illicit drug trade racket and the involvement of a minister, as alleged in the investigation of the Enforcement Directorate.