Congress-BJP understanding: At what cost?

After hectic efforts the Manmohan Singh government has managed to bring the main Opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, on board on the critical issue of supporting the civil nuclear liability bill, a key component of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's nuclear agenda and his efforts to deliver the law to the United States before President Obama comes calling in November.

But what is the cost of this support for the Congress is the question being asked by partymen.

Particularly in the wake of allegations levelled in Parliament against the Congress and the government by its one-time friends and allies, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, that the CBI has agreed to give a clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in return for the BJP support.

A senior Congress leader said that the government failed to respond to these charges and there was no one from the treasury benches to deny the allegation or to put the record straight in Parliament, with the result that the two Houses of Parliament were repeatedly adjourned over the allegations and the government remained a mute spectator.

A Congress Working Committee member said that if the charge is correct, it could badly damage the Congress party amongst the Muslims, with the party having spent a number of years in winning them back into the fold and garnering their support.

Modi is a sore point with not only the Muslims but a large number of secular Hindus, said a party leader and added that the leadership should not take the issue lightly.

It is interesting that not only did the party cancel its customary press briefing as the party was not interested in answering any questions over the alleged deal but Congress President Sonia Gandhi herself skipped the evening central hall function where President Pratibha Patil along with the vice president and the prime minister honoured three eminent parliamentarians.
Rahul Gandhi too was conspicuous by his absence.

A general body meeting of the congress Parliamentary Party is being held on Thursday morning where the Congress President is expected to spell out her views on various issues, including the nuclear liability bill and the status of the Modi case.

According to a report in a national daily, CBI officials have admitted that they have no evidence against Modi on his involvement in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case. Modi has been under fire after the former Minister of State for Home Amit Shah was arrested in the case. Modi had held the home portfolio.

In this context it is pertinent to note that a Union minister has been consistently repeating for the last one month that the government should not touch Modi, as it would damage the Congress and the government.

How the party responds to the issue remains to be seen, particularly in the context of the government going all out to win over friends for the nuclear bill, to the extent that they are even willing to extend the monsoon session to pass the bill and make it into law.

The bill, which is to go before the Union cabinet on Thursday to okay the amendments proposed by the standing committee, is likely to be tabled in Parliament on August 25, according to the current tentative schedule of the government.