The mess in Parliament is the result of the obduracy of the Congress’s top leaders, particularly president Sonia Gandhi. They had stymied the BJP-led Opposition during their 10-year rule and are now scared that a fair debate will cost them politically. Rather than participate in any debate in Parliament, the Congress has chosen the ‘over-my-dead-body’ kind of tactic to prevent the House from functioning. It knows that it has a weak case. It also realises that the support it has from other parties, is half-hearted at best.