Campaigning for Assembly elections in five states — Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry — could begin during the coming Budget Session of Parliament if the two Houses run.
Members of Parliament belonging to the AIADMK, the Trinamul Congress, Left Front and the BJP would use this forum to corner rival parties like the Congress, the DMK which are on the defensive due to various scams and dynasty controlling political power.
The AIADMK led by J. Jayalalitaa has already made corruption an issue in the Tamil Nadu polls where the ruling DMK has been facing anti-incumbency and scams, besides the feuds in the Karunanidhi family.
The Congress would find it difficult to defend the DMK and counter the Opposition’s attack. The Trinamul Congress MPs who have not wasted any opportunity to demoralise the Left Front MPs in Parliament could become more aggressive during the Budget Session beginning February 21.
The Left, the Biju Janata Dal, the TDP and the AIADMK are together in Parliament but it will be interesting to see whether the main Opposition would back the Left and others on the floor against the Mamata Banerjee-led party or remain neutral.
The Mandalite parties like the Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal (U), the RJD and the Janata Dal (S) have no role to play in these five states. Barring the JD(U), the rest are backing the Manmohan Singh government from outside.
Therefore, their MPs could remain passive for some time.
But Parliament can run if the government concedes the Opposition’s demand of a joint parliamentary probe into various scams, including the 2G spectrum allocation.
The Congress has been giving conflicting signals on this issue even after finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had reportedly made it clear at an all-party meeting held here on February 8 that no price is high enough to make Parliament function. But uncertainty on this issue would end by February 21.