Parliament logjam in times of whipcracy

Disclaimer: This piece is intended merely for discussion, and not at all casts aspersions on temple of largest democracy of the world. 

INDIAN Parliament has seen many political weathers to wilt to current gust of doggedness. 

Demography of India is transforming each day. India is getting younger. The young India is both a boon and bane in measures not easy to quantify. The boon obviously is in demographic dividend for economy. None talk about the other side of the story for want of an audience.

The most telling disability of young India is that its sense of history is much narrow. The time span of historical awareness is squeezing with each passing day. And to expect this growing class to pay attention to context and thereby historical background would be to expect too much. 

That the Congress and its tiny lot of camp followers have enforced a lock-down on Rajya Sabha, because the BJP when in Opposition had done the same stand having become irrelevant by the passage of time. And, hence, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has growing lot of admirers among the youth. 

Incidentally, political class invariably is blessed with short memory and any inconvenient pass events get erased with ease. Congress president Sonia Gandhi believes PM Narendra Modi is replicating Gujrat model in Parliament. She claimed Modi used to get Congress MLAs suspended from Gujrat Assembly without fail during each session. 

But Gandhi would surely not mention that the UPA government just two years ago had got passed State Reorganisation Bill to create the state of Telangana in not so glorious manner. Scores of MPs hailing from united Andhra Pradesh were suspended for days, for having camped in the well of the House and having held placards aloft against division of the state. The matter had come to such an extent that a Congress MP had pressed canister to spray pepper right in the well of the Lok Sabha and had to be overpowered after enough fisticuffs. That he endangered the health of many MPs, journalists and common men and women in the public gallery predictably did not invite attention of the presiding officers of the Parliament. 

Gandhi could equally consult her colleague Sheila Dikshit and enlighten herself how she had perfected the art of "naming and suspending" Opposition MLAs in Delhi Assembly during her over 15 years of rule. 

DOGGEDNESS of both Congress and BJP is worrisome. The Congress is surely looking to find the path to revive the party from the newly found lung power in logjam of Parliament. The BJP is on an extended hangover of having been served strongly intoxicating electoral victory a year ago much beyond their expectation. The BJP arguably believes the time has come to roll over the Congress. If the Congress is served a telling fatal blow, the BJP will always be the first natural choice of people for power in New Delhi.    

If not for politically motivated doggedness of the Congress, the Opposition could have explored the option for a censure motion in both the Houses of the Parliament against External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. The Opposition is in majority in Rajya Sabha and could have the desired results if its unity is real. 

BEYOND the explicitly seen reasons for lock-down in Rajya Sabha (Lok Sabha is functioning), there are larger issues. Firstly, the issue of democracy in the real sense. The weapon of whip given to political parties by late Rajiv Gandhi through the anti-defection law has made democracy hypocritical. The MPs are largely herds swayed by the direction of the whip.

Secondly, the issue whether the members of Parliament are lawmakers in the real sense is discussed in hushed voices in the corridors of the temple of democracy. How many laws have been enacted through the initiatives of the MPs and their discussions in both the Houses of Parliament? Aren't the MPs mere rubber stamps to the legislative bills drafted by the babus?   

Thirdly, do both the Houses of Parliament really make the government accountable. An illustration may answer this question. In the ongoing Monsoon session, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan indicated in Lok Sabha during Question Hour, that the government would not prefer to transfer cash into accounts of beneficiaries of the food subsidy. "The government spends Rs 1.31 lakh crore under food subsidy each year. Though we've launched DBT (Direct benefit transfer) in Pudduchery, Chandigarh and Dadar and Nagar Haveli, there're issues like (a) will people really buy foodgrains and if yes then of what quality; (b) what will happen to so many PDS shops and dealers; (c) what will happen to godowns built so far; (d) what if even 10 per cent of beneficiaries miss out from DBT for any reasons," said Paswan. 

No MPs present contested Paswan's concerns. All issues raised by Paswan are equally applicable for DBT for LPG subsidy. Tax payers' money can surely not be used to justify the need of PDS shops, dealers and godowns. And, lastly, the quality of grains given by PDS shops makes Paswan's another worry laughable. 

Excerpt from my book -- The enabler Narendra Modi.

And, most importantly, the quality of debate in both the Houses of Parliament tell a much larger story. A comparison between the 15th and 16th Lok Sabha in the context of quality of debates could make for an exciting research. That Nishikant Dubey from the BJP and Veerappa Moily from the Congress are lead speakers on economy in the current Lok Sabha tell the story much evidently. 

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The book -- The enabler Narendra Modi -- is available at myBook.to/Indianpolitics in paperback & Kindle. Kindle app can be downloaded from Google Play (for android phone) http://bit.ly/19c6Xpm for PC http://amzn.to/1ImLwl0 for Apple phone/ IPad http://apple.co/1MrRaF5

Feasting on instability

Trust Jats to give the most rustic one-liner. And one such was on the offer in Amroha. "Garib ki biwi sabki bhabhi aur amir ki sabki chachi (poor man's wife is universal sister-in-law, while that of a rich man's is an aunt". That was in reply by a Jat leader to a query that Ajit Singh of Rashtriya Lok Dal could again go begging to the BJP after the elections. 

Ramvilas Paswan, Udit Raj, Chirag Paswan

Ram Vilas Paswan could well claim to have the best nose in the political circle to sniff which way the wind is blowing. He did not disappoint his reputation. And after 12 long years of BJP bashing, Paswan is singing praises for Narendra Modi.

"Barah saal me yug badal jaata hai (an era changes in 12 years time)" is what Paswan has to say to volley of questions on his claims of "secularism" and volt-face. It was in 2002 that Paswan had quit Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cabinet just after the post-Godhra riots broke out. 

Though the world thought that Paswan had quit the Cabinet over the issue of alleged state involvement in Gujrat riots, he was rather at that time sulking for having been given the least important ministry. And to top all BJP leader Arun Jaitely had reportedly shouted at him in one of the Cabinet meeting. Also, Pramod Mahajan was alive then, who had the reputation of a no-nonsensical approach and is said to have the most bitter tongue.

But politics is an art in which there is nothing permanent. There is no permanent enemy too and whatever is seen is just for public perception. If not convinced, one may recall Mulayam Singh Yadav and Kalyan Singh joining hands just before the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. That was for political convenience and once the experiment did not yield desired results Kalyan Singh was dumped in quick time on the eve of the tabling of the Babri mosque demolition report in the Parliament.

Ajit Singh of the RLD is known as a fox in the political circle. Same is said of K Chandra Shekhar Rao of the Telangana Rashtria Samiti (TRS). They are not just a few but many in Indian politics and thrive with the weakening of the national parties. And they exact a heavy price from not only the large party with whom they align but also the people at large. 

Sharad Pawar led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had a tally of 17 seats in the 15th Lok Sabha. But the kind of clout he enjoyed in the Manmohan Singh Cabinet is envious. Under his pressure the government few weeks before announcement of elections approved a Rs 6,600 crore bailout package to the sugar mills, which they will use to pay the sugarcane growers but the banks will give money to them interest free. There is no free lunch and so the interest burden will be borne by the Central government.     

Ajit Singh on the other hand claims to have pressurized the Union Cabinet to approve the reservation in

An RLD rally at Amroha

government jobs for Jats. Now, the Jats are in the Other Backward Caste category (OBC). The caste, which is a land owning community and prosperous by all accounts, will vie with other OBCs for a pie in the reserved quota for jobs. They are not only prosperous farmers but have always been a socially dominant community. And, thus, they do not meet the criteria of social deprivation to have been considered at all for the "positive discrimination" power of the Constitution. 

But politics defies all logic. And, hence, an upper caste Jat is now a backward community. They now compete with Yadavs for benefits from the government. And thus one hears that rant in an RLD rally, that Jats have not got anything from the Samajwadi government in Lucknow, "which is catering only to Yadavs and Muslims".   

And what compelled Ram Vilas Paswan to go with an "upper caste" party. He himself gives the answer, that "Nitish Kumar created Mahadalit and left out Paswans only". He is apparently following in the footsteps of the Congress and Mayawati's BSP, that Upper Castes and Dalits make for natural political ally. That Dalits are not exploited by the Brahmins but by those who are in the category of OBCs is a well known fact and part of India's political tradition. 

Coming back to the Jat saying on poor man's wife, it's quite evident that the popular saying has now lost touch with the hardcore political reality. Now, the so called "poor man's wife" milks the party, which falls short of the number in the Lok Sabha.