Because the quality of lawmakers has declined, we see fewer debates, more disruptions and abusive language
The lok Sabha election is round the corner and Assembly elections to Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Sikkim will also be held simultaneously. The 15th lok Sabha was the worst tenure throughout the five years of the UPA Government’s existence. The ugly scenes witnessed before the passage of the Telangana Bill is a classic example of how the House should not function. The people are fed up of the unruly scenes and the huge waste of money in running Parliament when there are no productive results. The violent scenes enacted in some of the other Assemblies like Jammu & Kashmir also should strengthen the resolve of the voters to choose the right people.
let’s look at how Parliament functioned in the past five years. Recent data from the PRS legislative Research shows that the average number of Bills passed has come down from 72 to just 40. The lok Sabha has met for just 73 days instead of the normal 127 days a year. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, was passed in just three minutes. At the end of the session, 116 Bills remained pending, of which 50 lapsed.
The blame is to be taken by not only the Government but also the other political parties. Can the country afford such a colossal wasteIJ At least now the political parties must include in their manifesto that they would discuss and debate issues before passing the Bills and properly scrutinise the Budget. The youth got a chance in 1977 and later in 1989 when there was a complete change of mood of the electorate to throw out the ruling Congress. The youth want to change the politics. This has been amply showed by the success of the Aam Admi Party.
Some analysts cite the huge voter turnout in recent Assembly elections as proof enough. The Assembly elections to Rajasthan, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have shown a definite increase of young voters. According to one estimate, the AAP got 47 per cent of the youth votes. In all probability, this trend will continue in the ensuing lok Sabha poll. No wonder the major players including Mr Narendra Modi, Mr Rahul Gandhi and Mr Arvind Kejriwal are vying with one another for the youth votes. In such a scenario, giving youth a platform is going to be a big challenge for all the political parties.
The next big challenge is women empowerment, which Mr Gandhi has been talking about as his poll plank. Unless the women become stake-holders in policymaking, this cannot happen. For this to happen, the entire political class should make efforts to field more women candidate. The BJP and the Congress proved that together they could get any Bill passed. Why did they not show the same determination to give women one-third reservation in Parliament and legislaturesIJ
For the smooth functioning of Parliament, a broad consensus is required on all major issues at the national level. The political parties should address this in their manifestoes. In a coalition Government, regional parties are needed to provide a working majority at the Centre. This has given a blow to the foreign, economic and defence policies.
Because of the falling moral standards both in the public and among the leaders, criminalisation of politics has become the norm. In pursuit of power politics, every major player seems to be playing a no-holds-barred game. Caste and religion have in recent years emerged as rallying points to gain electoral support despite the emergence of India as a ‘secular’ country.
Candidates are selected not in terms of accomplishments, ability and merit but on the appendages of caste, creed and community. Although the influence of muscle power in Indian politics has long been a fact of political life the party leaders are openly defending the criminalisation of politics.
The people are yearning for cleansing the muddy politics and looking for good candidates to elect as their representatives. With the success of the AAP new aspirations of the voters have emerged despite their disappointment that the party failed so quickly to govern. It has to be seen whether the caste or the communal card will continue to work or development, as the formation of the new Government depends on this aspect.