With Parliament starting its monsoon session Tuesday, there is more of pessimism and less of optimism in the air. Serious issues like Vyapam and the Lalit Modi affair are bound to ensure a tumultuous session, while consensus eludes the contentious Land Acquisition Bill that is currently operative through an ordinance. With several regional parties joining hands with principal Opposition, the Congress, to upset the NDA applecart, the government is on tenterhooks, unable to push the legislative business forward. In fact, with scam after scam surfacing, this session looks like one from among those that happened towards the end of the decade long UPA rule.
It is a pity that precious time of the Parliament continues to be lost in the din with the Narendra Damodardas Modi government failing to take the consensus route. By not doing so, it is giving a handle to the beleaguered Congress party in particular to continue disrupting the proceedings in the Upper House, where the ruling alliance does not have the numbers favouring it and is hence at a serious disadvantage. As many as 35 items of business are expected to be up for the session, of which nine bills are pending in Rajya Sabha and four in Lok Sabha. Among them are the high stakes Land Bill and the Goods and Services Tax bill. As many as 11 new bills are to be introduced. With the Opposition forewarning that this session would be a complete ‘washout’, the outcome is anybody’s guess despite the fact that some regional entities like the Biju Janata Dal are being perceived as reasonable in their responses to carry house businesses forward.
The problem, in essence, is that the government is not coming clean or making its intentions clear on major issues. Its failure on this count is very obvious. For instance, it now says let every individual state make its own decisions vis-à-vis the land takeover issue. This could have been made clear from day one, rather than having the Land Bill going through the ordinance route repeatedly and getting deflated each time.
The role of the Opposition is to put the government on the mat over what goes wrong with governance. To that extent, the Vyapam issue or the help extended to a fugitive like Lalit Modi by senior governmental functionaries are fit cases for reference when the Parliament meets for its session. Even granted that the Congress party is using its clout in Rajya Sabha to questionable levels to embarrass the BJP government, the Opposition’s move to take the government head-first on such issues cannot be challenged. In fact, the Congress party is only giving back to the BJP in its own coin by repeatedly stalling the proceedings in the Rajya Sabha — a game that the BJP had taught the national political players in the past decade. The loss, however, is to the nation and its people. Legislative business suffers, and governmental plans fail to take off.
What are also most likely to raise the heat in Parliament this time are the serious issues like HRD minister Smriti Irani’s suspected fake educational qualifications — something that assumed more seriousness after a BJP clamour led to the recent exit of a minister from the Arvind Kejriwal government on the same ground. This could provide a very embarrassing moment for the BJP. No less embarrassing would be the issue of Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde circumventing rules and tender process to award contracts to private agencies. Clearly, questions would be raised on the ‘Achche Din’ that Modi has promised in the run-up to the General Elections 2014 that helped him grab votes.
The monsoon session starts with public mood demonstrating a deficit of trust in the Modi government, not just in the domestic affairs but also in matters of regional engagement. There is absolute goof-up in the way diplomacy with Pakistan is handled, past the initial bonhomie and subsequent suspension of talks, followed by resumption of talks through indirect channels, and a handshake in Ufa. All of these culminated in another barrage of fire from the Pakistani side, despite warnings and which is continuing. With all the warmth with which Modi courted the Chinese leadership, its UN vote in favour of Pakistan in relation to Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi turned out to be a dampener.
With Prime Minister mostly airborne and visiting nation after nation, he would seem to have had hardly any time to tackle domestic issues. The resultant mismanagement is all too evident. The Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh has taken its toll in our own state too, with its blood money tentacles reaching up to Union oil and gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The image of BJP has taken a beating here too as a result. As Pradhan projected his image over and above that of his party in Orissa, this hit has punctured the party like a hot air balloon.
Under the circumstances, and being at a serious disadvantage,
the way forward for the government to see business through in Parliament is adoption of a conciliatory approach on contentious issues. Consensus, not confrontation, is best advised in the government’s dealings with
the Opposition.
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