Shivraj Hits His Target

Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan comes across as mild-mannered most of the time until one remembers he was Madhya Pradesh’s longest-serving chief minister with tenures between 2005 and 2023, and that did not happen without a sharp political mind. Just as TMC MPs disrupted proceedings in Lok Sabha on March 10, raising slogans against the Election Commission (ECI), Chouhan seized on a question he was answering to accuse the West Bengal government of ignoring the interests of the state’s farmers for political reasons.

He said West Bengal was the only state not to implement the PM Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (PM-DDKY) in four aspirational districts in the state. “What crime have the farmers of West Bengal committed? Will any scheme which has PM in its nomenclature be denied to beneficiaries just because of the fear that the credit may go to the prime minister?” he asked. TMC, he said, was busy cultivating vote banks and had little interest in the actual well-being of farmers.

With state polls round the corner, TMC has intensified its attacks on ECI over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls but the minister’s broadside took the MPs by surprise before they resumed sloganeering. This is not the first time Chouhan and TMC members have clashed, as he has previously accused the state government of failing to produce utilisation certificates to access funds under MGNREGA, now Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin). As opposition disruptions have become routine, the government seems keen to deny its opponents all the publicity.

Jagdambika On Rahul

It was noticeable that while Lok Sabha was considering a resolution seeking a no-confidence vote against Speaker Om Birla initiated by Congress that listed Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi being denied the right to speak in the House as one of the reasons, the leader was not present. Senior BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, who was in the chair, pointed this out to Congress Deputy Leader Gaurav Gogoi who initiated the discussion. “You keep saying how he was not allowed… but he is not present in the House,” Pal told Gogoi who, however, laboured on with party colleague K Suresh sitting next to him on the front row, chipping in from time to time.

Poll Heat

The action is set to move from Parliament even as the second-half of the Budget Session is in progress with campaigning for the forthcoming state elections gathering pace. Prime Minister Narendra Modi set the ball rolling with a visit to Tiruchirappalli on March 11. A day before the Cabinet approved Madurai airport as eligible for international flights, the Centre moved to beat the ECI’s announcement of poll dates. The rival NDA and DMK alliances are in place even as the summer heat rises in the subcontinent.

Shah in Control

As the discussion on the no-confidence motion against speaker Om Birla got underway, Home Minister Amit Shah made his way to his seat at the front of the treasury benches. It was apparent that he intended to keep a close eye on the debate on the politically sensitive resolution, on one occasion asking Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju to seek deletion of defamatory words, and on another, clarifying on the Speaker’s powers to name BJP MP Jagdambika Pal as the presiding officer for the proceedings.

China’s Turn

The comments of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of a party conclave in China calling for improved relations with India and suggesting the two nations see one another as “partners, not rivals” was significant. Although such pronouncements depend on concrete action, it does seem there is something to it as the very next day India announced the easing of FDI norms for neighbours. The restrictions had been essentially meant for China after border tensions flared in mid-2020.

Owaisi Makes A Point

AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi made several sharp points at the start of the Lok Sabha discussion on a no-confidence motion against Speaker Om Birla regarding the process by which BJP MP Jagdambika Pal was selected from the panel of chairpersons to oversee the debate. But when it came to supporting the resolution, he remained seated while I.N.D.I.A. bloc MPs rose to their feet. At that point, what Owaisi would do when the resolution was voted on was unclear, but it did seem AIMIM continues to keep an arm’s length rom the opposition and the sentiment is in all probability mutual.

Pawar's Free Run

The postscript on the MVA alliance agreeing to nominate veteran Sharad Pawar as candidate for the only Rajya Sabha seat it could win in Maharashtra is interesting. Reports are circulating of Shiv Sena (Uddhav)’s unhappiness as it had sought the seat. Yet, Uddhav Thackeray confidant Sanjay Raut is seen to be close to Pawar. Moreover, nominating the Maratha leader was a way of ensuring a win as any other nominee might well have been at risk from an NDA candidate. BJP decided not to oppose the former chief minister and Pawar was among 26 candidates declared elected unopposed.