2016 must see cooperation, consensus-building
The Winter Session of Parliament followed a pattern that we have been familiarised with since the summer of 2014: lok Sabha, where the ruling coalition has a comfortable majority, functioned effectively; while Rajya Sabha, where the Opposition is in control, failed its mandate. The former registered almost full productivity but the latter just about managed to get to the 50 per cent mark — and even this was possible because of a last minute push, with the upper House doing more work in the last three days than it had done through the 20-day session.
Ultimately, Rajya Sabha passed just nine Bills and this included the high-priority Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2015 which, truth be told, would possibly have also remained in the pipeline had there not been public pressure from the December 20 release of the ‘juvenile' convict in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case. Also, Rajya Sabha did not even properly discuss or debate seven of the nine Bills that it passed. This sets a worrying precedent. Then there's the list of legislations that lok Sabha passed but Rajya Sabha held hostage.
At the top of the list is the Goods and Services Tax Bill, a major reform measure that the Government was keen to push through Parliament. Earlier in the session, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally reached out to the top Congress leadership, seeking common ground, there was hope that the Bill, a become a victim of partisan politics, would finally receive parliamentary approval. However, those hopes were dashed when the National Herald case came to the fore and the principal Opposition, convinced that the case was a Government ploy, dug its heels in deeper.
Meanwhile, outside Parliament, a mood of despondency is setting in. The BJP-led NDA Government came to power on a historic, once-in-a-generation mandate. Now, it seems liked that mandate is being frittered away by a cussed Opposition that is yet to come to terms with its electoral loss. This doesn't bode well for any of the parties and is doing enormous damage to the nation's governance structures. Sure, in a vast and diverse nation such as ours one cannot wish away partisan politics but that's precisely why we have a House of Elders — so that in times such as these, the upper House can rise above petty politics and lead the way with its wisdom and sage advice. Instead, Rajya Sabha is allowing itself to become a tool in the Opposition’s hands, opening itself to angry critics who argue that those who are not directly elected have no business disrupting the work of those who are directly elected. This is a sad state of affairs.
One hopes that the political class now realises that this is not a sustainable strategy, and that in the new year, there will be more cooperation and consensus-building. The end of the Winter Session saw the Treasury and Opposition Benches blaming each other for the mess; but there’s enough blame to go around the doorsteps of both. The Opposition has to play a more constructive role in policy-making, and the ruling coalition also needs to reach out more effectively to the Opposition. Also, if Parliament still cannot work, the Government should push other development activities that don’t require legislative support.