Keep petty politicking away from Parliament

When UPA2 was in power, there were jokes that Parliament sessions lasted as long as one needed to cook two-minute Maggi noodles. Now that Maggi noodles is in a soup, one has to look for some other example. Unfortunately, many political parties have been adopting disruptive politics in the conduct of Parliament, to gain public attention. The Congress is now practicing what the BJP had done during the last 10 years, without even realising the harm it is inflicting on parliamentary practice. 

President Pranab Mukherjee said while addressing Parliament some time ago: “Parliament functions through debate and not disruption.” The sooner the political parties realise this, the better it will  be.Disruptions, stalling business and walkouts mean that the present day Parliament is resulting in a washout of almost entire sessions. The current Monsoon Session is also facing the same danger as there are no indications of a give-and-take attitude either from the Government or from the Opposition.  

At a special golden jubilee commemorative session of Parliament in 1997, Members of Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution to preserve the prestige of Parliament by maintaining the inviolability of the Question Hour, by refraining from shouting slogans and desisting from interrupting the President’s address. 

But as is evident, these resolutions remain only in paper. Daily stalling of both Houses of Parliament shows that the MPs are not serious about their primary duties — to scrutinise legislation, oversee the functioning of Government, debate the Budget, demand for grants and represent the concerns of their constituents. The MPs have fallen short of all these duties.

So the question is: Who will bell the catIJ It is nobody’s case that the scams should not be raised in the House. While the opposition parties want to embarrass the BJP on the issue of corruption, the Modi Government hopes to ride over the situation. The Congress has been demanding the resignation of some top BJP leaders including Ms Sushma Swaraj, Ms Vasundhara Raje and Mr Shivraj Singh Chouhan, but the Government is offering only discussions. The Opposition should realise that it is more beneficial for them to expose the scams on the floor of the House than to block the sessions. With such stiff attitude from both sides, where is the room for compromiseIJ

What is at stake is the packed agenda readied by the Government. It is to be seen whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi is able to push through the reform Bills. Ten bills are waiting to be introduced in the lok Sabha and another 14 are waiting for clearance in the Rajya Sabha. If Mr Modi is able to push through the two key reform Bills — the Goods and Service Tax Bill and the land acquisition Bill — he can make a visit to the US, armed with increased credibility. Therefore, it is crucial for the BJP to reach out to the Opposition and come up with a face-saving formula. However, this initiative has to come from the Government, and the Opposition has to be responsive. 

As for the Congress, there is not much credibility when it hits the BJP with the corruption issue, as people have not forgotten the series of scams like the 2G Spectrum scam, the Commonwealth Games scam and ‘Coalgate’. However, being the main Opposition, the Congress has all the right to raise these issues. Still, there is a way of doing it. It can be done in a much better manner — by exposing the details of the scam through debates and discussion in the House. 

Disruptions in Parliament have a long history. Jawaharlal Nehru too abhorred this practice. From the fourth lok Sabha — the first without Nehru in the House — walkouts and disruptive behaviour became common. The need of the hour for both the ruling party and the Opposition is to collectively rise and make Parliament an effective instrument. 

Working days for Parliament should be fixed. The passage of Bills needs more debate and discussion, despite the argument that those Bills get scrutinised in committees and, so, a debate in the House becomes redundant.