Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday highlighted what he described as five major achievements of the Opposition during the ongoing Parliament session, claiming that several key government initiatives were either not introduced or were postponed.
Ramesh said the proposed One Nation, One Election legislation did not come up during the session. He also said the VBSA and Automatic Delegation measures were postponed, while the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) Bill was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).
Ramesh identified what he called a “fifth achievement” as the ruling party’s failure to secure a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
He alleged that the BJP had attempted to strengthen its numbers by breaking opposition parties, referring to developments involving the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Shiv Sena, among others.
“They are so eager for a two-thirds majority. They broke the parties. They broke TMC. They broke Shiv Sena,” Ramesh said.
The Congress leader also referred to speculation and media reports about the ruling alliance potentially reaching various numerical thresholds in Parliament, including 240, 250, 260, 300, 356 and even 360 seats.
Ramesh claimed that the current numbers show the BJP does not have the two-thirds majority required to push through certain constitutional changes.
“Now you have come to know that there is no two-thirds majority. It is a defective majority. It is not a majority. And they will never get it. No matter how hard they try,” he said.
Ramesh concluded by saying that, in his view, the five developments represented significant achievements for the Opposition during the session.
