Dissenting voices have started emerging from opposition parties over the boycott of the special session of UP legislature to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Though Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress leaders are not ready to speak on record, they admit that the boycott of the session has sent the message that the opposition is indulging in negative politics.
“People have elected us to represent them in the Assembly and raise their issues in the House for redressal of their grievances. We were not elected for staging dharnas outside the Assembly building. This kind of protest is the legitimate political activity of the organisational wing of all political parties round the year,” said a SP MLA adding that the boycott not only deprived all parties of an opportunity to corner the Yogi Adityanath government but also the media attention.
Another SP MLA said, “The Yogi Adityanath government has completed half of its term and it has done nothing substantial for the common man, yet it has been able to project its development agenda in a big way and has got wide positive media coverage.”
“The only gift by the Yogi Adityanath government to the people is that it has hiked the power tariff by 27 per cent during the last 21 months,” he added.
“It was a bad strategy as it could not maintain the opposition unity which weakened in no time,” said a political analyst.
Congress MLA from Rae Bareli, Aditi Singh, was the first to cause a crack in opposition’s ‘unified boycott’. She openly defied party leadership in general and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in particular, to whom she is considered close.
“The opposition leadership should have realised that they could have made more noise by participating in the special session and using it to take on the government on whatever issue they deemed fit,” said political analyst Dr AK Verma.
He went on to add, “To boycott the special Assembly session which had the sanctity of a solemn occasion and sanction of developmental agenda, was, by all means, a bad calculation that has only highlighted the inability of opposition, alone or combined, to seize opportunities to make themselves heard.”
The political analysts say narrow caste identity politics is also one of the reasons why the SP and the BSP boycotted the special session.
“The caste-based parties are unable to look beyond their narrow agenda. They neither have inclination nor have they ever attempted to appropriate Gandhi ,” Dr Verma said, adding that the SP and the BSP never tried to conceptualise their role in national politics.
Aditi Singh said on Saturday that she rose above party line and tried to speak on development. “This is my first and foremost priority. If you heard my speech, I only spoke about development and sustainable development goals. I practice politics the way my father used to do — whatever I feel is correct, I do it,” she said.
On being asked what she would do if her party took some action against her, Aditi Singh said, “It is the party’s call and whatever decision they take, I am ready to accept it. I did whatever I felt was appropriate.”
The defiance is not limited to Congress. Rebel SP leader Shivpal Singh Yadav and BSP MLA Aslam Rainee not only attended the special session but also heaped praises on Bharatiya Janata Party government.
While Shivpal Yadav said that Yogi Adityanath was an honest Chief Minister, Rainee’s statements were more than defiance and indicated an open revolt. Given the fact that BSP chief Mayawati is known for her authoritarian leadership, where even a murmured criticism of her or the party is the last thing that one can expect from a party member, leave alone a sitting MLA, open criticism in the Assembly signifies much more than defiance.
Rainee said he took the decision to attend the special session because he could not ignore the voice of his ‘antaratma’ (conscience).
The opposition had boycotted the special Assembly session saying that “BJP is more interested in making records than solving the problems of people”. By doing so they must have thought that they could gain some mileage. The opposition in UP Assembly hardly constitutes even 20 per cent of the total strength.
The issues that were discussed during the 36-hour-long marathon session of UP Assembly centred on sustainable development goals and included deliberations on gender equality, environmental degradation, quality education, clean water and sanitation, eradication of poverty and hunger, ensuring good health, clean and reasonable energy, inclusive economic development, industry-innovation and infrastructure development, urban development and law and order.
