On the very first of day of the Budget session of Parliament, the much-flaunted Opposition unity seemed to be in the doldrums with the Left insisting on bringing an adjournment motion on the Ayodhya issue and the Samajwadi Party bent upon bringing the motion on the Uttar Pradesh law and order situation.In its effort to keep the Opposition united, the Congress decided to support adjournment motions on whichever issue gets admitted by the Speaker. Though senior Congress leaders feel the timing of the motion raise communal sentiments in the crucial run-up to the polls in Himachal.Sources say the Congress could prefer to take up the adjournment motion on UP first to push the Ayodhya issue to a later date. The Supreme Court has set February 21 for hearing the Government plea to vacate the stay on religious activities on the undisputed land in Ayodhya.Emphasising that the party was ready to back both the motions, Congress chief whip in Lok Sabha Priya Ranjan Dashmunshi said: ‘‘The Congress would support the adjournment motion on both the issues, whichever gets admitted tomorrow.’’Left parties, which have been pressing for an adjournment on Ayodhya, is obviously irked with the SP’s insistence on an adjournment motion on UP’s law and order situation. ‘‘Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh are so preoccupied with the UP and Mayawati and their own agenda,’’ a senior CPI MP said.‘‘We have given a notice for the adjournment motion, now it is for the Speaker to decide,’’ said CPI (M) Lok Sabha leader Somnath Chatterjee.Cracks on the united face of the Opposition were also visible when Left leaders went off for their own party meeting while the rest of the Opposition, including the Congress and the SP, went their way. Minutes after Congress spokesperson Jaipal Reddy told the media that there is going to be ‘‘an informal meeting’’ of the Opposition, Chatterjee said: ‘‘We do not know of any informal or formal meeting (of the Opposition), we have our own party meeting to attend. Let the prospective Opposition decide what they want.’’
