The prolonged disruption of the monsoon session of the Lok Sabha by recently elected MPs which resulted in the President’s address to both houses of Parliament and the government’s Rs.477,000 crore Union budget 2004-05 being passed without any debate, marks a new low in independent India’s history. Though some of the blame for this unprecedented impasse could accrue to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government for inducting ‘tainted ministers’ into the Union cabinet, the preponderantly greater share of the blame has to be laid at the door of the BJP-led opposition parties grouped under the umbrella of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which was unexpectedly voted out of office in the general election held in May this year. The plain truth is that the over-confident leaders of the former NDA government have not yet come to terms with the rejection by the electorate of their inegalitarian development model driven by a divisive hindutva ideology. This is why from the very first day that the new Parliament was convened on June 2, its proceedings were disrupted over the issue of MPs with criminal charge-sheets being inducted into the council of ministers. True, the induction of individuals with serious criminal charges filed against them into ministerial office (explained away by the government as the compulsion of coalition politics) is a cause for protest, but not for crippling the business of the country’s apex legislative assembly. Particularly since the NDA government’s council of ministers also included individuals with criminal charges for involvement in the demolition of the Babri Masjid pending against them. The BJP leadership’s nit-picking distinction between common criminal cases and ‘political’ crimes is specious and spurious. On the contrary it could be argued that political crimes which incite lynch-mobs to mayhem and riot are more reprehensible than common and garden criminal offences. The fascist-style contempt which the leadership of the BJP (and its sangh parivar allies) displays towards Parliament and its established procedures is evidenced not only by its disrespect for a President installed in office by the NDA government and boycott of the multi-billion rupee Union budget, but also by its unprecedented decision to withdraw from all the standing committees of Parliament. Fortunately wiser counsel prevailed and this latter decision was reversed after a short boycott. Moreover the NDA leadership’s abortive attempt to present amendments to the boycotted Union budget directly into the prime minister’s office (instead of the floor of Parliament) and subsequent hullabaloo about the disrespect allegedly shown to its delegation by prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh when he rightly rebuked them, is indicative of a schizophrenic mindset which seems to have seized the NDA leadership. Though it’s embarrassing to instruct leaders of the nation about the rationale of parliamentary norms and procedures, this needs to be done. These procedures have been devised during the past half century to facilitate intelligent and informed debate on matters of national importance and to legislate laws of the republic. The NDA leadership should note that a political revival strategy based upon contempt of Parliament is likely…
