(Ashok Malik is a columnist and writer living in Delhi.)
Watching Sonia Gandhi leading MPs from 14 parties to Rashtrapati Bhavan and raising slogans against the Bill moved by the Narendra Modi government to amend the Land Acquisition Law, many wondered if the backbone was back in the Congress. Rather than a categorical "yes" or "no", the answer is a cautious and mixed one.
The Land Acquisition Law drafted by Jairam Ramesh, as UPA Rural Development Minister, and the Sonia-led National Advisory Council was marketed as one of the UPA government's major achievements. True, gaps remained. As is now apparent - following the debate and discussion over the Modi government's proposed amendments - there is widespread recognition that the UPA-era law, in its current form, is unworkable. It will only freeze big infrastructure, industrial and urbanisation projects.
Indeed, within days of the land law being passed by the previous Lok Sabha, the UPA's Power Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia, had called for an amendment. He wanted ultra-mega power projects exempted from the (then new) Land Acquisition Law.
Having said that, the law remains central to the Congress' left-of-centre positioning, which is expected to solidify in the coming months. As such, a hard approach to the NDA's Land Bill was always on the cards. It will be difficult for the Congress to compromise here, as it did on the insurance legislation in the past week.
Sonia's aggression on the Land Acquisition Law also followed twin setbacks on the coal and mining Bills. The Congress had sought to corner the government, but found itself bereft of crucial state-level allies such as the Trinamool Congress. The new laws promise to give a greater share of auction revenues from, for instance, coal mines to state governments. This made parties such as the Trinamool and Biju Janata Dal reluctant to back the obstructionism of the Congress, given the state governments of West Bengal and Odisha would be beneficiaries.
That is why key regional parties agreed to the government's proposal to send both Bills to select committees - as the Congress had demanded - but committed to getting the select committees to revert with their suggestions to the Rajya Sabha in seven days. In contrast, the select committee on the Insurance Bill had taken several months. The Congress found itself outwitted and its parliamentary leaders were forced to concede to the seven-day time frame. This led to anger among younger MPs, including high-profile names who are expected to be part of Rahul Gandhi's team when he takes over as Congress president. They attacked the Congress' parliamentary leaders for giving the government an easy route.
Sonia's decision to take charge of the assault on the Land Acquisition Law needs to be seen in this context. It was a response to the growing perception that the Congress was only effective in Parliament (particularly the Rajya Sabha) when parties such as the Trinamool Congress, the CPI(M) and the BJD, and to an extent the Samajwadi Party and the BSP, allowed it to be. When the bulk of these parties opposed and delayed the Insurance Bill, the Congress seemed to have clout. When the bulk of these parties did a deal with the government, the Congress looked lost.
Two implications flow from this. One, the Congress remains weak, whether inside or outside Parliament, and can only depend on allies and a coalitional road map for medium-term political rehabilitation. Two, this needs to be combined with voices emerging from the Congress that insist Rahul has determined that an even stronger swerve to the left is the only course at the moment. The Land Bill was a useful cause to adopt in this scenario.
Going forward, two state elections will offer a test of the Congress' strategy for the next four years. In Bihar, an anti-BJP front led by Laloo Yadav is logical, but would require the Congress to accept a very minor position and give up hopes - as demonstrated by Rahul in previous years - of bravely going it alone. In West Bengal, the Congress has been reduced to a handful of constituencies and essentially two districts (Malda and Murshidabad). Party insiders don't rule out appealing to Mamata Banerjee for an alliance - though she is unlikely to oblige, as she has little to gain by keeping the Congress alive in her state - or even reaching a formal understanding with the CPI(M).
Should it happen, that understanding with the CPI(M) could herald a broader national rapprochement. With Prakash Karat's term as CPI(M) general secretary set to end and Sitaram Yechury expected to succeed him, the hostility between the Congress and CPI(M) - a consequence of Karat withdrawing support to the Manmohan Singh government in 2008 - will abate. Both parties are at a political low, but if the Congress is serious about a left-leaning reinvention it may decide the CPI(M) is the first prop it needs. Marching together, taking along a host of vaguely socialist parties and protesting against the land law would be construed as a useful first step.
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