Day 2 of the winter session was a
washout as expected. The pattern has become clear. Under any pretext, the BJP
will ensure that Parliament is held to ransom. Then BJP spokespeople will rush
to TV studios and spit out more venom at the Government and try to justify
their unjustifiable blockade of democracy itself. Given their good oratorical
skills, they will make it appear as if the Government has something to hide.
Forget FDI in multi brand retail. The blockade could be for anything. The
appointment of the new CBI chief, the new financial bills, anything.
Given its position as the
principal opposition party, such conduct is unacceptable. Along with the ruling
party, it has enormous responsibility in the running the country. It’s like two
surgeons who are performing an operation on a patient. One is the lead surgeon
(the “attending” in the language of Grey’s anatomy!) and the other is like an
anaesthetist. The two have different jobs to do, but there are some places
where their paths cross. The responsibility of the surgery is the attending’s,
but without the help of the anaesthetist, the surgery cannot be done. Now
imagine, if the two can’t stand each other. The anaesthetist wants to be the
attending but is not being able to earn the chance. So he creates hurdles for
the attending to try and make him fail. Does the anaesthetist care for the
patient? Not one bit. The anaesthetist in our politics – the BJP – is doing the
same thing.
So the BJP won’t allow Parliament
to function; ensuring that important bills are not passed. It spurned the co-operation
talks with the PM and the FM – even though the bills under debate could resuscitate
the patient (the economy) back to health – behaving like an irresponsible,
immature child who is sulking over the snub on the discussion on FDI in multi
brand retail. It couldn’t care about what the nation wants in Parliament. In
fact, its sole objective is politics and to make sure the duly elected
government of the day is hobbled from performing.
We haven’t heard of any specific opposition
the BJP has per se with these bills. The bills have gone through standing
committees no doubt in which the BJP must have had a chance to express its
viewpoints and attempt to build a consensus. It is likely the Government would
have accepted many, if not all, of these viewpoints. If the bill is now ready
to be placed in Parliament and passed, how can a scuffle on another issue block
the passage of these bills? A responsible, mature person knows how to
compartmentalize issues. A disagreement over one issue does not stop him from
working with the other person. This is not a choice that he gets to make. He is
obligated to work with the other. If he doesn’t work with the other person, he
will be doing disservice to the people. It’s that simple.
The BJP also won’t allow the
Executive to perform. It has questioned the enabling policy decision of FDI in
multi-brand retail on the back of some unsustainable, political reasons. In the
past it had blocked the appointment of the NCTC – though it was being set up as
ordained under the Act passed by Parliament with the support of the BJP itself
– under the pretext of federalism. Now it has objected to the appointment of
Sinha as CBI chief, for some controversy 16 years back. Sinha is known to be an
upright officer and has served the country in various capacities including
handling graft in an earlier stint in the CBI. Indiatoday.in (the online portal
of the India Today group – which has no love for the Congress) says that Sinha
is a soft spoken officer with remarkable administrative acumen. The Patna HC
indictment that the BJP referred to was in a case of corruption against Laloo in
which Sinha recused himself because he came from the same state (Bihar). He was
not corrupt. If he was corrupt, he would
have stayed on and tried to help Laloo. If he recused himself and earned the
ire of the HC, its for the HC to answer why it was upset, not for Sinha. But
for the BJP, Sinha is just a little foot soldier. The target is the Congress,
not Sinha.
The BJP in any case is seeing its
grand plot unraveling. The 2G “scam” has exploded in its face. Now with its
leader and head of PAC, Murli Manohar Joshi being charged with an attempt to
influence the report of the CAG (there has been enough speculation about the
CAG cosying up to the BJP to secure a future ministerial posting under an NDA
government), there is egg on the BJP’s face. The Government’s push towards cash
transfers is another Executive decision that the BJP is mortally afraid of.
When people get cash in their bank accounts at the end of every month, they are
bound to vote for the party that made that happen. The BJP is suddenly finding
its grand plans all coming unstuck. The only way it knows to stop this tide is
to block Parliament. And the Executive.
It would help if the BJP focused
more on a positive agenda, rather than pulling someone else down in a crabby
way. The people would want to hear their views on FDI. What is the real reason they are opposed to FDI in
retail? What is their plan for faster economic growth? How will they create
more jobs? What kind of power policy do they support (since they oppose
Kudankulam). Like it happens in America, we want to have a debate on specific
points that concern development, not those aimed at scoring political brownie
points.
The real truth is that the
BJP is desperate. It will do anything and everything to stop the Parliament and
Executive from functioning. As for its concern for the nation, the less said
the better.
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