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How Congress stands alone over Lalit Modi controversy

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Kumar Shakti Shekhar
Kumar Shakti ShekharJul 02, 2015 | 21:17

How Congress stands alone over Lalit Modi controversy

The lines have been drawn for the upcoming monsoon session of the Parliament commencing on July 21. Like an India-Pakistan cricket match, it is fast turning out to be a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) versus Congress duel on the Lalit Modi issue with most of the other opposition political parties either becoming mute spectators or indirectly helping the ruling dispensation. In the process, the Congress is on the verge of getting isolated. It could also feel the heat for disruption of Parliament, if it indulges in any.

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The Congress is the only major political party, in fact the only party, which has raised feverish pitch over the Lalit Modi controversy demanding the resignations of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje. Ever since the controversy came in the public domain, there has hardly been a day when the Congress has not issued a statement or released any document calling it a "clinching evidence" against Swaraj or Raje.

However, the same zeal is totally missing among the partners of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). On the contrary, and quite shockingly, some of the UPA partners have gone to the extent of supporting the BJP over the "Lalitgate".

After all, why has it come to such a pass? On a closer scrutiny, it is clear that most of the politicians active in cricket administration - be it International Cricket Council (ICC), Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or Indian Premier League (IPL) - are generally from the Congress or the BJP. With exceptions, a handful of them are from regional parties like the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

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Hence, like the non-aligned movement (NAM), most of the non-Congress, non-BJP parties are either not willing to throw their weight around either poles or supporting the ruling dispensation, meekly or whole-heartedly due to political considerations. Take for example the stand taken by major political parties, national and regional, over the continuing Lalit Modi drama:

Trinamool Congress (TMC)

The recent bonhomie between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has clearly resulted in a truce between the two parties at the national level. Modi took Banerjee along with him to Bangladesh in June while all the eight Northeastern states felt ignored. The BJP leaders have stopped attacking their TMC counterpart over the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam. In return, the TMC leaders, who constitute the most vocal leaders in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, have only supported the BJP in the Lalit Modi issue. After senior TMC MP Sougata Roy demanded Swaraj's resignation, the party's national spokesperson Derek O'Brien issued a statement saying that what the former said was his personal view. "Trinamool is quiet on the issue", Derek clarified. The TMC has 34 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 12 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. After the BJP (280), Congress (44) and Jayalalithaa's AIADMK (37), it is the fourth largest party in the Lower House.

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Samajwadi Party (SP)

Modi attended the "tilak" ceremony of Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav's grand-nephew Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, who got married to RJD chief Lalu Prasad's youngest daughter Raj Lakshmi, at Saifai in Uttar Pradesh in February. He also attended the wedding ceremony in the national capital later, shocking not only the SP and RJD leaders but also the political pundits. The SP was the first opposition party to come out in support of the BJP in the Lalit Modi case. SP general secretary and party's leader in the Upper House Ram Gopal Yadav gave a clean chit to Swaraj and said she had done the "perfect thing" by helping out former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi. The SP has five MPs in the Lok Sabha and 15 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. It is the third largest party in the Upper House after 68 of the Congress and 47 of the BJP.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad has openly supported Swaraj and asked all the political parties not to pester her on the Lalit Modi issue. Lalu's stand is confounding because Bihar goes to polls later this year and RJD is in direct confrontation with the BJP in the state. Lalu has always adopted a tough posture against the BJP leaders, be he LK Advani in the past or Prime Minister Modi at present. Mindless of the fact that he may only go on to be the loser, Lalu has supported the BJP at this crucial juncture. RJD has four MPs in the Lok Sabha and one in the Rajya Sabha.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)

In a major jolt to its principal alliance partner, the Congress, Sharad Pawar's NCP has also extended its support to Swaraj and said Lalit Modi cannot be called a "absconder", thus, implying that Swaraj was not on the wrong side of the law in helping the former IPL chief in getting travel documents to fly from the UK to Portugal in 2014. Pawar, a former Union cabinet minister, was the BCCI chairperson from 2005 to 2008 and held the ICC chief's post from 2010 to 2012. He was reelected to the post of Mumbai Cricket Association last month. The NCP has six MPs each in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

Janata Dal (United) and Left

The JD (U) and the Left are the only parties, but way behind the Congress, to have adopted a posture against the BJP. While Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar called Swaraj's role as BJP's double standards, JD(U) president Sharad Yadav demanded a clarification from the prime minister. Like the isolation of the Congress in the UPA, the JD(U) too has got isolated within the six-party Janata Parivar. Its stand is directly in contrast to that of the RJD, with which it is contesting the Bihar elections. The JD(U) has just two MPs in the Lok Sabha but 12 in the Rajya Sabha.The Left parties, having nine MPs each in both houses of the Parliament, have demanded the resignation from Swaraj and Raje. Like the JD(U), they too have not been vociferous in their demand.

AIADMK and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)

Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa's AIADMK and Mayawati's BSP have remained neutral so far. AIADMK has 37 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 11 in the Rajya Sabha, while the BSP has 10 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. It failed to open its account in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Last updated: July 02, 2015 | 21:27
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