New bloc of 4 parties to unite in Parliament

At least four major parties — AIADMK, Trinamul Congress, Biju Janata Dal and Telangana Rashtra Samithi — are moving closer to work together as a bloc in Parliament, maintaining distance from the ruling BJP and the main Opposition, Congress.

While their total strength in the Lok Sabha is 101, their numbers in the Rajya Sabha are 36. “We have decided to work as a bloc in Parliament,” a reliable source from BJD said on Tuesday. According to him, with Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge functioning as leaders of the Congress rather than the Opposition, the government is taking their support for granted.

He said that the unity of these parties in Parliament is a beginning and the real picture could emerge after the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections to be held in April-May next year and later in the presidential election expected in July 2017.

While the Trinamul Congress, BJD and TRS are fighting with the BJP and Congress in West Bengal, Orissa and Telangana, the two national parties have been a minor player in Tamil Nadu. But the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK does not want to yield any space to national parties in the state.

The Trinamul Congress cannot be friendly with the Congress even on select issues as the latter is working with the Left while the TRS cannot support the BJP as the latter has allied with the TDP.

The Trinamul Congress and the BJD are backing the government on GST. The AIADMK continues to oppose it while the TRS is expected to make its stand clear when the government takes up this issue in Parliament in the current session.

Main Opposition Congress wanted these four parties to walk out with it in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday on the issue of the Centre’s tactics to topple and destablise Opposition ruled-governments in states like Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.