Opposition voices go quiet after BJP’s UP victory

New Delhi: The BJP’s massive mandate in Uttar Pradesh has not only strengthened the party, but also seems to have decimated the Opposition’s voice completely.

A majority of Opposition parties, who were vocal and relentlessly targeting the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, have suddenly gone quiet. The official media briefings of the Trinamul Congress for example, which were a regular occurance during Parliament sessions, have almost completely stopped.

Members of the TMC seemed to be avoiding the media after the Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe into the Narada sing operation. The TMC, which was at the forefront of the anti-demonetisation protests, has held only one briefing in the second leg of the Budget Session of Parliament. Most of the TMC MPs, including the party’s national affairs spokesperson Derek O’Brien, are mostly in Kolkata.

The TMC has been badly hit by a string of scams like the Narada and the Rose Valley scams, and the arrest of senior leaders like Sudip Bandopadhyay and Tapas Pal. Sources in the TMC said that leaders were asked to tone down their protests and concentrate on debates and discussions in Parliament.

Before the UP results, the party was at the forefront of cobbling together a front among Opposition parties. TMC chief Mamata Banerjee had held a joint press conference with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi against demonetisation in December.