Polls change priorities |
Forthcoing polls in the five states of India have changed priorities of political parties. Just 140 MPs voted on the Congress amendments to the Aadhaar Bill in the absence of regional players like Trinamool Congress, SP, BJD, BSP, JD(U) and NCP, making it a largely NDA versus Congress-Left affair. Though most opposition parties have expressed disagreement with some aspects of the Bill, many did not turn their reservations into a vote against the proposed legislation. Interestingly, when the Bill was taken up by the Lok Sabha shortly after the Rajya Sabha vote, TMC and BJD "appealed" to the government to accept the "wisdom" of the elders and go along with the amendments while Congress absented itself in the Lower House. TMC was unwilling to be on the same side as the Congress -Left alliance with the first phase of the Bengal elections a little over a fortnight away. Similarly, AIADMK voted with NDA in the Rajya Sabha having previously refused to side with the Congress -backed move to amend the President`s address to Parliament. The voting is again seen as a tactical response to the Congress-DMK alliance and intended to underline the main opposition party`s isolation.
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