In selecting a battle in the TRAI amendment that has little public resonance, the Congress party finds itself isolated in Rajya Sabha.

It was Sharad Pawar and his Nationalist Congress Party that sounded the first alarm bell for the Congress over the wekeend on just how isolated the Congress would be in Lok Sabha when he told reporters in Mumbai that his party would not oppose the TRAI amendment bill.

The legislation is an amendment to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act that will allow the appointment of Nripendra Misra as principal secretary to the prime minister. The amendment bill replaces an ordinance promulgated by the new Union government to enable Misra's appointment. The ordinance had to be promulgated as the TRAI Act prohibits its chairman and members from taking up any other job in the central or state governments after demitting office. Misra is former chairman of the TRAI.

The Congress has opposed the move from the start, with Ajay Maken having questioned the move saying the BJP had, after all, opposed the Congress's decision to introduce the food security law through an ordinance.

With its numbers in Lok Sabha, the Narendra Modi government was hardly expected to pay heed to the Congress's protestations. But when the amendment bill came up in Lok Sabha on Monday, the government scored a huge win, getting not only the NDA votes in favour of the bill but also showing that it had the regional parties in the Opposition benches on its side.

As this report in The Times of India points out, the Trinamool Congress "stunned" the Congress by announcing its support for the bill. TMC MP Saugata Roy had only last week supported a Congress resolution opposing the bill. "On Monday, TMC leader Sudip Bandopadhyaya reversed the stand, saying the PM should be allowed to have a bureaucrat of his choice," the report said.

AIADMK leader M Thambidurai also gave his support to the bill, eventually passed by voice vote.

A report in DNA cited the turnaround to backchannel talks that Parliamentary Affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu and Law and Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad held with leaders of non-NDA parties such as AIADMK, BSP, BJD and SP.

Even the BSP, which has 14 members in Rajya Sabha, did not oppose the appointment of Misra with Mayawati stating that the Centre had the right to choose its officers. The BJD's Jay Panda also said the prime minister should have the option to appoint officers of his choice.

Expectedly, the Congress party was shocked at their own isolation. Joined by the CPM, the Congress immediately alleged that there had been a "quid pro quo" -- the TMC after all is set to face troubling questions over the Saradha scam.

In fact, to be more precise, the isolation is of a small caucus of Congress leaders insisting upon opposing the TRAI amendment -- even within the party there are members who believe opposition should be limited to issues that have a wider resonance, something the appointment of a principal secretary in the PMO does not have.

A report in The Times of India says there is a view in the party itself that this is an issue with "limited relevance".

That Misra is known to be an able bureaucrat with experience in sectors ranging from Commerce to fertilisers to telecom does not help -- the Congress is merely gaining for itself the public perception that the party is blocking the appointment of an effective administrator.