Amit Shah’s attack on Opposition precursor to no-trust debate

Home Minister Amit Shah’s assertive speech in Lok Sabha on Thursday accusing the newly minted Opposition alliance INDIA of supporting the Delhi government’s corruption cases in order to keep the anti-BJP alliance intact is a precursor to the ruling NDA’s stance in next week’s no-trust motion.

After dealing with arguments about the competency of the Centre in bringing a bill that negates the Supreme Court’s ruling granting Delhi government control over postings of officials, Shah brought the political argument upfront saying that the reason for the opposition’s presence in the House after having absented itself during the passage of nine previous bills was driven by alliance compulsions.

He said the Opposition alliance had come together to ensure that the Aam Admi Party did not leave the grouping and was not concerned with the merits of the bill or the city government’s record in office. The AAP government’s desire to control “services” was solely driven by a desire to gain control of the vigilance department that is probing allegations of wrong doings in the renovation of the chief minister’s residence.

Earlier, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari had said that the very first order passed by the AAP government following the SC ruling was to transfer the official who was probing the cases relating to graft. Shah iterated the point, saying the Faustian deal will not benefit the opposition as purpose for opposing the bill was very evident.

The no-trust motion has been scheduled over three days next week starting Tuesday. The time set for the debate indicates that the NDA will like to use the vote to expound on its achievements and attack the opposition alliance which comprises of parties like Congress, Samajwadi Party, Left, RJD, DMK, NCP and Uddhav Shiv Sena. In his public remarks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly attacked the alliance as a grouping of dynasts and vested interests. The debate can be expected to see NDA speakers elaborating on the theme.

Shah might utilise the debate to answer Opposition questions on the violence in Manipur and elsewhere and Modi has typically used the parliamentary platform for lengthy speeches. The Prime Minister can be expected to respond the charge that he has kept silent on the situation in Manipur.

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Rajeev Deshpande

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