New Delhi:
It was exactly what the Congress had feared.
In Parliament, the Opposition has slammed the United Progressive Alliance government for being a deeply divided house on its Naxal strategy. And for being under-prepared in the face of such attacks.
After the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha were adjourned thrice over the Dantewada massacre, Home Minister P Chidambaram addressed Parliament on India's worst-ever Naxal attack, stating that India needs "a strong head, a strong heart, and enormous staying power" in dealing with the Naxal insurgency.
Chidambaram said once again that the primary responsibility to fight Naxals lay with the states. Last week, 76 jawans were killed by Naxals in Dantewada in Chhattisgarh.
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley of the BJP responded by saying that the entire opposition supported Chidambaram. He said "We did not ask the Home Minister to resign because we did not want to see a smile on the face of the Maoists." However, he then attacked the Congress over its internal differences which have exploded publicly in the last 48 hours.
Jaitley referred to a newspaper article written by Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Wednesday, in which Singh slams Chidambaram for his "aggressive" Naxal policy, along with describing him as "extremely rigid" and guilty of "intellectual arrogance."
Jaitley said, "Opposition wants to stand with the government but...we don't need a government who tries to pull down its own Home Minister; what we don't need is a divided government." He pointed out that "the Home Minister is under gherao from his own party." Jaitley also referred to Union Minister Mamata Banerjee's comments on Wednesday in which she said, "There is not a single Maoist in Lalgarh or West Bengal. We were always against the operations in West Bengal."
Banerjee, who is the leader of the Trinamool Congress, has repeatedly criticised the government's policy on Naxals. Banerjee's remarks came days after the Prime Minister asked all ministers to refrain from commenting on the Naxal issue, stating that the Home Ministry alone would address the issue.
"What we don't need is half-a-Maoist in the treasury benches who will try and pull down the government by saying the fight against Maoists must be diluted. That's what seems to be going on, Jaitley said.
Jaitley also said Chidambaram's offer to resign after the Dantewada massacre was inappropriate. "Home Ministers don't behave like an injured martyr," he said.
Jaitley's speech, replete with quotable quotes, harked back to one that had created a stir when the Dantewada attack happened. "Chidambaram is a victim of his own idiom", Jaitley said in Parliament. This was what the BJP leader had said when Chidambaram accepted responsibility for the Naxal attack by saying the buck stopped with him. Chidambaram's statement then had come in response to Jaitley's question on where the buck stopped, borrowing from the Home Minister rapping the Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya that the buck stopped with him for Naxalism in Bengal.
The popular "buck" came up in the speech of BJP leader Yashawant Sinha too in the Lok Sabha where he spoke scathingly of the divide in the ruling coalition in words that were then echoed by Jaitley in the Upper House.
"Pushing our jawans to their death with an ill- planned operation, responsibility has to be claimed...buck stops at the parliament. We are all united to battle the Maoists, Sinha said. And also, "time and again statements come, the buck stops here, the buck stops at my desk, the buck stops here, there, everywhere."
By the end of the day, Chidambaram's tone in Parliament was softer. "The Dantewada tragedy must make us more determined, more resolute and more careful in the fight. But we should also be more compassionate towards the poor and towards development," he said.
He added that he would continue to lead the country's effort against the Naxals. "I have no fear of Naxals. I don't fear the Naxals. I felt when a horrible tragedy took place I should own moral responsibility as a Minister. Therefore I tendered my resignation," he said adding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi rejected the resignation.
"I believe they have reposed their confidence in me. I will continue to provide leadership of the MHA and para-military forces in the fight against Naxal operations," he said.
The UPA government has been bracing for a stormy session with the Opposition armed with several issues. Apart from the Dantewada attack, the government's strength in the Lok Sabha may be put to test with the Opposition united in bringing a cut motion on price rise.
The Opposition - BJP and allies and the Left parties - have also made clear that the Shashi Tharoor imbroglio is another storm the UPA will have to face. A united Opposition wants Tharoor to quit as Minister of State.