The Centre has called an all-party meeting on Wednesday to discuss the escalating West Asia crisis, signalling urgency and an apparent bid to take the Opposition into confidence, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked citizens to brace for its long-term impact.
The move follows Modi’s detailed statements in both Houses of Parliament on Monday and Tuesday, during which he drew parallels between the fallout of the West Asia war and the Covid-19 pandemic, stressing that “we must be prepared and united”. Modi is likely to chair the meeting, government managers said.
Lok Sabha Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, however, sharply criticised the government, describing the Prime Minister’s statement in Parliament as “irrelevant” and accusing him of compromising India’s foreign policy. Rahul said he would skip the all-party meeting, citing a pre-scheduled programme in poll-bound Kerala, while insisting that the damage could no longer be undone.
“If the PM is compromised, our foreign policy is compromised… Our foreign policy is PM Modi’s personal foreign policy. You can see the results of this... everybody considers this a universal joke,” Rahul told reporters on the Parliament premises.
Reacting to the government’s outreach, Rahul said there ought to have been a proper debate instead of what he termed a belated consultative exercise. “They have called an all-party meeting; there should be a debate, but you have made a structural mistake. You have destroyed the structure, and that cannot be corrected. The PM cannot do it; I can give it to you in writing. The PM will do
what America and Israel say,” he said.
He also warned that the impact of the West Asia crisis on India would be far deeper than the government was indicating. Referring to the Prime Minister’s remarks, Rahul said the country should prepare for rising pressure on essential supplies.
“It is the beginning — LPG, petrol, fertiliser, all these would pose a problem. Modiji said a Covid-like time is coming. He has forgotten what had happened then, how
many people had died and what kind of tragedies had unfolded,” he said.
Women’s reservation
In a counter move, the Opposition has demanded an all-party meeting over the government’s push to pass a constitutional amendment bill to delink the 2023 Women’s Reservation Act from the forthcoming census.
The government has shown urgency in clearing the amendment in the current session and has sought Opposition support to enable early implementation of one-third reservation for women in legislatures. Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday held meetings in this regard with several Opposition leaders.
At a meeting in Parliament on Tuesday morning, Opposition leaders decided to press the government to first circulate a note detailing the proposed amendments and then hold an all-party meeting on the issue. Rajya Sabha Opposition leader and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge later wrote to the parliamentary affairs minister, urging that the bill should not be rushed through and instead be taken up after the coming round of Assembly elections.
“The all-party meeting on women’s reservation should be called after the Assembly elections are over. The government should not try to use everything to draw political mileage,” a Congress MP said.
The government is planning to raise the strength of the Lok Sabha from the present 543 to 816 and reserve one-third of the seats for women, using the 2011 census as the basis. This would require amendments in Parliament because the 2023 Women’s Reservation Act had provided for implementation only
after the next census and the subsequent delimitation of constituencies.
There was no official word from the government, but sources said the Opposition’s request could be considered.