Congress has resorted to misplaced aggression
One would have thought that after being electorally thrashed, the Congress would put its best foot forward as an opposition party and win over the space it has lost, through responsible conduct. Unfortunately, the party has decided to swing the other end, creating ruckus in Parliament either on non-issues or issues that have been or are being reasonably resolved. It has come to believe that the more it disrupts the functioning of the House and blocks Government business, the more it will be considered as ‘effective'. While the strategy has succeeded in grabbing eyeballs and led to the generation of ‘debating points' in the electronic and print media, the people at large will be disgusted with the Congress's approach. What is disturbing is that the disruptions are not happening merely due to the backbenchers of the party; its senior-most leadership appears to be leading from the front. On Wednesday, we had the shocking episode of Congress MP and vice president Rahul Gandhi rushing to the well of the House claiming that the Opposition was not being allowed to speak on issues. He also said that “only one man's voice counts” and that lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had been behaving in a partisan manner. These are grave accusations which should not have been made on the basis of mere perception. They needed to be backed with evidence — something that neither Mr Gandhi nor his party MPs produced. The Congress vice president led his people in the House to demand an Adjournment Motion to discuss the ‘communal situation' in the country. He should have known that an Adjournment Motion is admitted on issues that are of an emergency nature. It is not as if the nation is engulfed in communal strife. To suggest to the contrary is not only a lie but also a handle for communal elements to seek front-page and primetime coverage. Interestingly, if there has been serious communal disharmony for months — largely created not by the people but by partisan politicians — it is in the Samajwadi Party-ruled Uttar Pradesh. It is surprising that Mr Gandhi remained silent over the last more than two years when a series of communal riots broke out in the State, and has woken up only now with the arrival of the BJP-led NDA regime at the Centre.
The Congress resorted to similar disruption over the Union Government's amendment Bill to enhance foreign direct investment in the insurance sector up to 49 per cent, and on the CSAT issue. Incidentally, both the mattters have their origin in the Congress-led UPA rule. The Bill is a creation of the UPA Government, and the present regime has tweaked it. Similarly, the English reasoning test through CSAT for IAS aspirants was introduced during the UPA reign. The NDA Government has carried forward these initiatives, but by taking steps which address certain concerns over them. The Congress must do a course-correction in its attitude before it loses the little credibility it is left with.