Seemingly unnerved by the Opposition standing like an invincible rock to fight the State Government in course of the ongoing Assembly session, the Harish Rawat Government is intent on driving wedges within the saffron brigade.
What happened earlier was that the Opposition used to boycott the House proceedings and it helped the ruling party to have Budget passed, sans glitch. But this time, the Opposition has changed tacks. They look united to take the fight right into the Treasury Bench, standing eyeball to eyeball, without going for disruption.
Bamboozled by the Opposition showing conspicuous restraint, the Chief Minister, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister and other Cabinet Ministers keep on scoffing at the Opposition in a bid to provoke them into disruption. However, the stratagem seemed to have failed to compel them into the intended direction. The Opposition members protested, but scarcely lost cool.
The Opposition showed self-control even regarding the claims made by State Finance Minister Indira Hridayesh in her Budget speech. They dubbed them as flamboyant, saying the Government had not explained how they would generate the required quantum of revenue to meet the expenses. But, they chose to listen to her patiently, waiting for her to stumble on some points.
In his speech on the Budget, the Chief Minister, Harish Rawat, chose to attack the Centre to provoke the Opposition into histrionics.
He said that the Union Government has curtailed its share in six sectors, including tourism and police modernization. This means that the State will have to collect Rs500 crore by way of additional revenue to meet the gap left by the Centre’s withdrawal.
He further said that the Union Government has curtailed things related to Char Dham yatra too. The BJP MlAs raised points to counter the charges, but never lost temper.
BJP MlA Pushkar Singh Dhami asked why the State Government has not acted on the requisition of 71 MlAs for 100 solar street lights even after they had submitted Rs2 lakh from their local area development funds.
The CM said that the Union Government which used to subsidise 90 per cent of the total cost involved in the purchase of solar street lights has withdrawn such facility.
Thereafter, the Opposition said that they had submitted the requisition in 2013. Why the delay in forwarding them, they asked.
Rawat said it is very unfortunate they had sent them late. But it is doubly unfortunate that the Centre has withdrawn the subsidy.
While replying to the Opposition query over why the people are not getting ration under national food security scheme, the Food and Civil Supply Minister said that was because of the regime change and policy change at the Centre.
Earlier, they were releasing food grains for APl as per the State demand. But now they are not giving as per the demand. Even they have imposed a condition of complete digitization of the system to have funds. The Opposition listened, but stuck to their guns that the Centre could hardly be faulted with.
When the Opposition asked the Treasury Bench to release the arrears of sugarcane farmers, which are due from sugar mills, the State Government said that during the UPA regime they had allocated Rs6,600 crore to bail out the sugar industry.
“But now, the new Government is not giving such bailout package. If they release we would disburse,” the Minister said. It was at this point the BJP MlA Madan Kaushik pitched in, saying that the Union Government is supposed to give 10 percent of the total due. “Why are you not releasing the remaining 90 percent to the sugar industry immediatelyIJ” the BJP MlA asked.
The Treasury Bench was at its mocking best on Wednesday when Hridayesh asked a BJP MlA Sanjay Gupta to keep quiet as the technical words proved Greek to him. When Gupta reacted she threw a dare to him to bring breach of privilege motion against her.
Despite such provocations, the BJP legislative team kept tethered to their seats. To drill chinks in the BJP strategy of constructive opposition, the Treasury Bench left no stone unturned to exasperate them into fits of disruptive histrionics. But the shafts charged by them missed their targets. The Opposition remained determined not to get entrapped.