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Both the houses of Parliament were adjourned without transacting any business on Tuesday, with senior leaders attributing the adjournments to a diktat from Gandhinagar where Narendra Modi has come in the firing line from multiple quarters along with his key aide and confidante Amit Shah, and the Congress has taken the opportunity to ask for the Gujarat chief minister’s resignation.
While the Food Security Bill has been passed by both the houses of Parliament, the Land Acquisition bill continues to hang fire with the bill having been passed in the Lok Sabha but not in the Rajya Sabha. While a question mark continues to hang over the fate of the bill, sources say that there is pressure on Bharatiya Janata Party leaders to pass the bill, since it relates to the welfare of the farmers and the BJP may not like to be seen as a party which is not concerned with the interests of the farmers.
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh met key BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley to ask them to let the house run and pass the bill as did Union Minister Kapil Sibal whose judicial accountability bill is stuck. Congress leaders are trying to find a way by which the house can run after it was suddenly derailed by the BJP over Coal-gate, but sources say that the Coal scam and the missing coal files may be just an excuse as the real issue is Gujarat and the heavy firing and attack against Modi.
There are apprehensions within the government that the BJP may have co-operated as much as it has and may not allow the two houses to function with any degree of seriousness, since, for the United Progressive Alliance, the crucial pension bill is also waiting to be passed.
Gujarat Deputy Inspector General of Police D G Vanzara has shot off a 10-page hard-hitting letter against Modi and Shah, in which he has resigned from the police, forfeited his post retirement benefits and has accused Modi of ignoring the jailed police officers, while Modi moved heave and earth to ensure the release of Amit Shah from Jail over the fake encounter killings of Sohrabuddin and Prajapati.
Along with this, the congress cronies have also showcased a CD, the result of a sting operation, in which two senior BJP leaders -- Prakash Javdekar and Bhupinder Yadav (a member of Parliament from Rajasthan) -- are talking about getting a blank document signed from Prajapati’s mother to have a lawyer of their choice appointed so as to manage the investigations related to Shah’s involvement in the fake encounter killings as he is an accused.
The Congress has asked for the resignation of Modi and said that the CD gives enough proof of the involvement in the fake encounter s and the attempt for a cover up.
The Congress obviously wants to use all the ammunition at its disposal to discredit Modi and Shah who has been made in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, where the Congress hopes to polarise the minority votes in their favour.
The prime minister in the meantime has invited key BJP leaders L K Advani, Swaraj and Jaitley to his residence on Tuesday to help end the stand-off in Parliament so that important government business can be transacted before the session ends on Friday.
The prime minister gave a statement on Coal-gate in Parliament on Tuesday, where he said that efforts were on to trace the missing files and it would be premature to assume that the missing files are lost.
Sources in the government say that all efforts are being made to end the deadlock but much would depend on whether the senior leaders in Delhi are going to be led by the diktat from Gandinagar.
While Advani has made his views on Modi public, both Swaraj and Jaitley went ahead and passed the Food Security Bill despite Modi wanting the passage of the bill blocked.
All eyes are on the senior BJP leaders in Delhi and whether they would toe the Modi line or chart their own course.