The Hindu Business Line : All set for a heated winter session

The session is beginning at a time when the UPA coalition is half way through its five-year term and facing elections in five States. With so many divisive issues facing the Government, the session is likely to see less of legislative business and more of political battle.

A series of divisive issues that include the controversial Women's Reservation Bill and the emotive plea of clemency for Afzal Guru, convicted in the December 13, 2001, Parliament House attack case, will see the UPA Government come in for some heat in the Winter Session of Parliament, beginning Wednesday.

Women's reservation Bill

There are many ifs that need to be resolved before the Women's Reservation Bill can be assured of a smooth introduction, leave alone final passage. There are two opposing sides to the Bill, one representing women who want the Rajya Sabha and the State legislature to be covered by the Bill. The other side is represented by the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Janata Dal factions as well as the Samajwadi Party, and the Bahujan Samajwadi Party, speaking for the rights of the socially weaker sections. They fear that the reservation for women will only benefit the upper classes. Their demand is reservation within reservation to ensure that the socially weaker sections are given their due rights.

The political will of the UPA and its constituents, as well as the Opposition parties, will undergo the litmus test if the Bill is introduced. Going by past experience, it is highly doubtful that the Bill will have a smooth introduction or indeed be introduced at all. A few years ago its introduction was blocked in the Lok Sabha amid unseemly scenes. The Treasury Benches will face flak not just from the BJP-led Opposition but also from its supporters from outside — the Left parties. The CPI and the CPI (M) will probe the Government on the India-US civil nuclear deal, SEZs and the plight of farmers.

The NDA, particularly its leader, the BJP, has given notice that it will put the Government on the spot on the demand for clemency to Afzal. The BJP will exploit the issue by arguing that the Congress has been `soft' on terrorists and that there has been a spurt in violence in the valley as well as incidents of terrorism elsewhere in the country. It will also question the Treasury Benches on the outcome of the recent Indo-Pak talks at the foreign secretaries' level and whether the government was able to give proof of involvement of Pakistani elements in the July Mumbai blasts. The BJP will try to derive maximum political advantage on the issue of sealing and demolitions of illegal shops in Delhi. For their part, the Left parties are organising a farmers' march to Parliament on the opening day.

Sachar Committee

Another divisive issue is the expected tabling of the report of the Sachar Committee that examined the socio-economic and educational status of Muslims. With the BJP opposing any attempts to provide religion-based reservation, discussion on the report will be controversial. The proposed Bill providing for 49.5 per cent seats in higher educational institutions — 27 per cent for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 15 per cent for the Scheduled Castes and 7.5 for the Scheduled Tribes — will also generate considerable heat. The Supreme Court's directive to exempt the "creamy layer" from among the Dalits and the tribals from the reservation privileges has irked many political parties, including the Left and some allies of the Congress. The Bill for 27 per cent OBC reservation, already introduced in Parliament, is now with a Parliamentary Standing Committee that is expected to submit its report in the Winter Session.

The session is beginning at a time when the UPA coalition is half way through its five-year term and about to face elections in five States, including in the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh and the Congress-ruled Punjab early next year. The Government is expected to face the wrath of both the BJP and the Left for its reluctance to cut fuel prices in the wake of the drop in global prices of crude oil.

With so many divisive issues facing the government, the session is once again likely to see less of legislative business but more of political battle and will surely set the tone for the Assembly elections that are due a early next year..

(The author, a former deputy editor of PTI, is a New Delhi-based freelance journalist. Feedback can be sent to rajamani_rc@yahoo.co.uk)