Opinion | Why Disruption Cannot Be The Opposition’s Parliamentary Strategy

Opinion | Why Disruption Cannot Be The Opposition’s Parliamentary Strategy

In his customary address to the media ahead of a parliamentary session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Opposition leaders not to turn the Winter Session into a stage for theatrics. “Parliament is not a place for drama; it is a place for delivery," he said on Monday, adding: “For some time now, our Parliament is being used either as a warm-up arena for elections or as an outlet for frustration after defeat."

Prime Minister Modi's strong admonitions and appeals to the opposition to not vent their frustration at their recent rout in the Bihar Assembly elections fell, quite predictably, on deaf ears. The wrath is not only directed at the ruling NDA alliance, but at the Election Commission, a constitutional body; also, at the courts, including the Supreme Court, for not supporting the spurious Congress and Trinamool Congress (TMC) allegations.

This is not the first time that such wastage of time and public money is being done — and that too at the temple of India's democracy. Last year, the winter session lost more than 65 hours to adjournments. This year's monsoon session ended with just about 29 per cent of the scheduled time marked for the Lok Sabha and 34 per cent for the Rajya Sabha.

This is a time when we must act. First and foremost, a process must be set in to bring a law that not just guarantees minimum days for the House to work, but also the hours it should be working. Any disruption must reflect in monetary losses for them.

Second, suspension of members for their unruly behaviour seems to have lost its teeth. The time has also come to link a member's unruly behaviour with the loss of their privileges and public funding.

Also, the government needs to ponder if expulsions will work better than persuasion. Many people believe nothing short of it will make any difference to parliamentarians enamoured of extra-constitutional methods, bent on stopping the work of the House — methods that instigate mobs and riots, arson and violence on the streets.

We have seen how suspending them for a day or two, or even a week, has not worked in the past. Maybe they could be sent out for the whole session. Their terms as members of Parliament could be cut from five years to four or even three, till they decide to behave appropriately in the House. Since such people are, thankfully, in a minority in Parliament, they can and must be firmly dealt with.

It must be said that not all parties in the opposition at this time are of one mind, and some want to proceed with the business at hand. The Prime Minister's remarks occasioned strong reactions from the Congress, though it has won only 6 seats out of 243 in Bihar. There is no acceptance of reality, no urge to change its ways. Instead, its anger was wrapped in an assertion that the conduct of the elections was unfair, followed by a clamour for an immediate discussion on the ongoing SIR process. This, even if the discussion was held under the broader category of ‘election reforms'.

However, several other opposition parties were markedly more interested in pursuing other issues, including the legislative agenda first.

A clear division in the ranks of the so-called I.N.D.I.A opposition alliance is evidently forming, and the leadership of the alliance by Congress might well be under review. The TMC from West Bengal, for example, was already moving on its own and not attending meetings called by Congress. There is also disquiet within the Congress on the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and indeed the Gandhi family.

That the recent ‘Vote Chori' campaign in the media and the tour in Bihar undertaken by Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav pulled a blank, and possibly harmed their cause, must be still rankling. And yet, the Congress is determined to continue the campaign. But others in the opposition alliance, including Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD, are not convinced. There is apparently no Vote Chori except as a fantasy in Rahul Gandhi's mind!

The Prime Minister urged the sections of the opposition who are busy accusing the Election Commission to get over their obsession. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju was more conciliatory and assured the protestors that the government would consider the demand for a discussion on SIR, but the timelines for it could not be dictated by the opposition.

Through the noise, a bill was passed on the morning of day one in the Lok Sabha. It implemented the GST law in Manipur. But another two bills, also tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to rejig levies on tobacco, pan masala and related goods, could not proceed in the face of constant slogan shouting. This resulted, as usual, in the Lok Sabha being adjourned for the rest of the day. Every expensive session of Parliament functions in this chaotic manner.

The Rajya Sabha fared no better, with the opposition Congress, CPM and TMC demanding an immediate discussion on SIR and eventually walking out when it was not agreed to. The plan is to keep it up for days and take it to the entrances and lawns outside as well.

The real fear is that the SIR process, now to take place in just 12 states at first, will catch out many illegals. The process, to update and sanctify the electoral rolls, may weed out lakhs of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. If found out, they have been added with the likely connivance of parties who use them in their vote banks. That the SIR has been regularly conducted every few years since Independence is conveniently ignored.

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Everyone knows what is going on. The real issue is how far the government is prepared to go before it steps and says: Enough is enough.

The writer is a Delhi-based political commentator. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views.

Source: News18
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