Just two years ago, under our present Central government, Parliament had reported record-breaking productivity. The first Parliament session after the 2019 elections comprised 281 hours in all, in which 36 important bills were discussed and passed.
These included the repealing of Article 370, the triple talaq bill, the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir and the Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill, among others. This was a new record for the maximum number of bills passed in one session in 67 years. There were several days when Parliament functioned right up to midnight or beyond.
With this session, the government had clearly tried setting a dynamic parliamentary agenda; it was committed to optimising parliamentary efficacy.
Opposition’s obsessive 'Khela Hobe' mindset
If two years later, Parliament has faced endless disruptions over the last three weeks leading to one of the most unproductive sessions, the blame squarely lies upon the Opposition’s ‘khela hobe’ mindset.
There is no doubt anymore about ‘khela hobe’ being a veiled messaging for violence and anarchy. While the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has presided over the worst crimes against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters in Bengal, it seems that the TMC MPs were clearly asked to extend the mindset inside Parliament.
Hence, when TMC MP Santanu Sen snatched away papers from IT Minister Ashwini Vaishaw even as he was making a statement on the Pegasus row, the attack was clearly premeditated.
In fact, exuding anarchy and snatching papers has been an old TMC habit; Derek O Brien having demonstrated it at least twice before inside Parliament, including once under the UPA government when the bill for the creation of Telangana state was introduced.
The Congress itself has been pursuing a milder form of 'khela hobe'; the most glaring example being the Congress MPs led by Rahul Gandhi flying paper planes inside Parliament in January 2019, when the then Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, was speaking. Rahul Gandhi was himself seen winking during the Minister’s response on the Rafale debate.
Hence, disrupting Parliament this time has been a pre-decided 'khela hobe’ strategy.
Pegasus Enquiry
In the Indian context, the information available on Pegasus is flimsy and inadequate to initiate a formal investigation. Moreover, the MoS Defence, Ajay Bhatt, has explicitly stated in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha that the Ministry of Defence has had no transaction with NSO Technologies.
This should firmly put the onus on individuals who suspect snooping to come forth and file an FIR. This, in fact, was also advised by the Supreme Court to the petitioner who had approached the court with the plea for a court-monitored enquiry.
What is it that stops the likes of Rahul Gandhi or MK Venu to file an FIR with the cybercrime cell?
No equivalence with Arun Jaitley’s past statement
The Opposition is gleefully quoting Arun Jaitley, out of context, in order to justify their anarchy inside Parliament. This is what Arun Jaitley had said on 26 August, 2012: “There are occasions when an obstruction in Parliament brings greater benefits to the country… Our strategy does not permit us to allow the government to use Parliament (for debate) without being held accountable… we do not want to give the government an escape route through debate.”
It is worth reminding at this point that Arun Jaitley’s comment was in the context of three of the biggest scams that India has witnessed — the CWG scam, coal scam and the 2G scam, on which the then government was repeatedly stonewalling discussion. As against that, Pegasus, at least based upon the information available so far, is largely a vague speculation. To use this issue to thwart discussion on all relevant issues affecting the common man is extremely irresponsible.
Today, the brazen hypocrisy of the Opposition stands exposed: during the peak of the COVID-19 wave, they were gunning for an emergency session of Parliament. Now when they had the opportunity to raise relevant issues, they squandered it away, inflicting a loss of nearly Rs 150 crore on the government.
The Way Ahead
The government would want all bills to be passed after adequate discussion and inputs. This is a government on the move that can’t be held hostage to the Opposition’s destructive antics. Hence important bills like Justice Juvenile Bill, Inland Vessels Bills and The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2021, among others, had to be passed, notwithstanding the opposition drama.
It is sad that these bills were deprived of qualitative inputs that would have potentially emerged had the Opposition been better behaved. Now the onus is upon the Opposition to behave well in the next session of Parliament and press for amendments, if any, in the bills already passed.
The writer is an author and a BJP spokesperson. Views expressed are personal
August 10, 2021 at 03:18PM
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