What game are BJP and Opposition playing over vice-president’s election?
Will the Opposition field a Gandhi to counter the NDA's superior numbers for the vice-president's election scheduled on August 5? Top sources in the Opposition camp today said that one of the top probables to be fielded as the challenger to the NDA nominee could be Gopal Gandhi, the great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi.
A senior Congress leader on Monday morning said the Opposition's pick is likely to be a person of eminence - not necessarily from the field of politics.
He added: “The Opposition will zero in on a person who represents the ideological unity of the Opposition and secular values.” With this, it's clear that the V-P election is going to witness a contest of prestige.
The Opposition doesn't want to allow the ruling NDA to send its nominee to the V-P office without a challenge. That's why the mantra is that even though it may be a losing fight, it should not be uncontested.
The NDA led by the BJP is keeping its cards close to its chest. Top sources in the BJP say the final decision on the BJP's choice will be taken by PM Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.
Shah, who was to be in Gujarat for the next three days, decided to stay back as sources in the BJP admitted that the change indicates the possibility of the BJP's top two meeting for the first time to discuss the V-P poll.
The BJP had surprised political observers by naming Ram Nath Kovind, the Bihar governor, as its choice for the President’s office. The Opposition was forced to rework its strategy and zeroed in on ex-Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to counter the “Dalit card” the opponent had played.
The BJP was first off the block in naming its presidential nominee and by that it managed to drive a wedge between the parties that make up the Opposition. JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar broke ranks and pledged his support to Kovind.
To keep the unity intact against the BJP, the Opposition wants to put up a joint candidate and the meeting of all like-minded parties on July 11 was supposed to be a show of unity. But the unity element is already depreciated.
Nitish has reacted to the ongoing CBI raids against his ally RJD’s chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family by calling a party meeting on July 11, thus indicating that he won't be in Delhi but will send an emissary.
As Nitish flexed his muscle - subtly indicating that Lalu must respond to the raids by asking his son, who is facing charges, to remit the deputy chief minister's office - Lalu in turn today called a meeting of his MLAs (who are more in number in the Bihar Assembly than the JD(U)’s) and called the raids political vendetta which the RJD would challenge.
But even he announced his decision to stay away from the Opposition meet and be represented by a party envoy.
The Opposition's show of unity will involve around 18 non-NDA parties and will be convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the Parliament library. The party’s vice-chief Rahul Gandhi and several leaders from the NCP, RJD, Left, TMC, SP, BSP, DMK and other smaller parties are likely to attend.
Sources say the Congress is all for a quick decision. The hurry is to ensure that the V-P poll is not a repeat of the presidential race, when the NDA announced its pick first and Nitish backed Kovind on the grounds that the “Opposition was late off the block”.
On the other hand, BJP sources say the party will this time wait for the Opposition to open its cards. The party has to go through various layers of discussions.
Before the matter goes to the final decision-making body - the parliamentary board - Amit Shah will discuss and finalise a few names with Modi and then talk to Bhaiyaji Joshi, Dattatreya Hosbole and Krishna Gopal - the three men the RSS has appointed to discuss the issue.
The vice-presidential contest is heavily stacked in favour of the ruling NDA. It has around 550 votes out of a total of 790 members in both Houses of Parliament, who form the electoral college for the election. The electoral college that votes for the vice-president, who is also the ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha, has 543 elected and 2 nominated members of the Lok Sabha, besides currently 233 elected members and 12 nominated members of the Rajya Sabha.
The parties are also likely to discuss the floor coordination strategy between them during the Monsoon session of Parliament, which starts on July 17.
Since the session will start in the wake of CBI raids on Lalu and his family, the Opposition is expected to push the government against the wall over the issue, which may well lead to large scale disruptions in both Houses.