As the disruptions in Parliament continued unabated on Monday, it has become increasingly clear that neither Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi are interested in ending the logjam and discussing the Lalit Modi issue and the Vyapam scam.
Neither Modi nor Rahul Gandhi have shown themselves to be keen Parliamentarians. This has been evident from their prolonged absenteeism from the Lok Sabha.
It is only after his return from his 56-day sabbatical during the budget session in April that Rahul Gandhi started participating in Parliamentary proceedings. Till then, he was rarely seen in the Lok Sabha and barely raised any issues, asked questions or participated in any debate. Even now, his contributions are, at best, mere sound bytes. Doubts still persist about the Congress leader’s ability to match wits with his political opponents in a debate.
Modi, on the other hand, is an excellent orator. But he is least interested in the cut and thrust of Parliamentary debate. In fact, Modi is not interested in Parliament at all. He is seen in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha only when it is unavoidable.
The prime minister demonstrated how unenthusiastic he is about Parliament when he failed to participate in the vote on the crucial Goods and Services Tax Bill in the Lok Sabha in the last session even though it was a Constitutional amendment Bill and his party had issued a whip for all members to be present.
Avoiding questions
Instead of crossing swords with the Opposition inside Parliament, where he can be subject to cross-questioning and even be hooted by the opposition, Modi prefers to speak directly to the people at his public meetings. He lived up to his reputation when he chose to break his silence on Lalitgate and the Vyapam controversy at a public meeting Gaya on Sunday even though the Congress-led Opposition has been demanding that the prime minister speak up on these issues in Parliament.
Modi has shown no urgency in ending the deadlock in Parliament. Adopting a hands-off approach, the prime minister personally made no effort to reach out to the Opposition, which has been demanding the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje.
It was only after two weeks of prolonged disruptions that the government called an all-party meeting last week in an effort to end the deadlock. Chaired by Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, the meeting proved to be an exercise in futility as it failed to resolve the crisis. Both the government and the Opposition stood their ground, with the ruling alliance offering no compromise formula except to say that it is willing to debate these issues in Parliament.
It became evident that the government was not serious about ending the deadlock when Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan suspended 25 Congress members for disorderly conduct shortly after the inconclusive all-party meeting. It is widely acknowledged that this action was taken at the behest of the government, a method used in the Gujarat assembly by Modi when he was chief minister.
Giving up on key Bill
The ruling alliance has already given up on the contentious Land Acquisition Bill currently being scrutinised by a joint committee of parliament. The panel was originally slated to submit its report in the first week of this session but after many extensions, the committee decided on Monday to defer it till the winter session. Although the government has agreed to do away with the controversial provisions in the Bill, the opposition wanted more time to study certain clauses. Having already been branded “anti-farmer”, the ruling alliance does not want to take a risk on this issue before the crucial Bihar assembly elections.
With the monsoon session set to close on August 13 and the Congress adamant about its demand that the prime minister must speak, there is little possibility of any business being transacted in the coming three days. The suspended Congress MPs continued with their slogan-shouting in both Houses on Monday even though the principal Opposition party found itself isolated after several other Opposition parties, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Trinamool Congress, agreed with Samajwadi Party leader Mulayum Singh Yadav that the disruptions had gone too far and they should agree to a debate.
Staking positions
But even on the modalities of a discussion, the government was unwilling to accommodate the Congress. The principal Opposition party had given notices for an adjournment motion to debate Lalitgate and the Vyapam scam but these notices were rejected by the Speaker. An adjournment motion entails a vote and though the National Democratic Alliance government would have sailed through it in the Lok Sabha, it did not want to concede this point as it could be seen as a sign of weakness. It has instead offered a discussion under rule 193, which does not require a vote.
Congress leaders maintained that after persisting with their protests for the past two weeks, they could not afford to back off in the closing days of the session even if it is deserted by other Opposition parties.
Defending his party’s strategy to disrupt proceedings in Parliament, Rahul Gandhi maintained the Congress would not back off till the government offered plausible answers to the questions they had raised about the controversies involving the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders. Singling out Sushma Swaraj for attack, he said, “Sushma gave a very nice speech in Lok Sabha. If she is so caring and concerned about Lalit Modi why did she do it secretly? Why not tell her ministry and the people of India?”
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley responded by hitting out at Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for their insistence on derailing proceedings even when most of their party leaders were willing to end the stalemate.
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Neither Modi nor Rahul Gandhi have shown themselves to be keen Parliamentarians. This has been evident from their prolonged absenteeism from the Lok Sabha.
It is only after his return from his 56-day sabbatical during the budget session in April that Rahul Gandhi started participating in Parliamentary proceedings. Till then, he was rarely seen in the Lok Sabha and barely raised any issues, asked questions or participated in any debate. Even now, his contributions are, at best, mere sound bytes. Doubts still persist about the Congress leader’s ability to match wits with his political opponents in a debate.
Modi, on the other hand, is an excellent orator. But he is least interested in the cut and thrust of Parliamentary debate. In fact, Modi is not interested in Parliament at all. He is seen in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha only when it is unavoidable.
The prime minister demonstrated how unenthusiastic he is about Parliament when he failed to participate in the vote on the crucial Goods and Services Tax Bill in the Lok Sabha in the last session even though it was a Constitutional amendment Bill and his party had issued a whip for all members to be present.
Avoiding questions
Instead of crossing swords with the Opposition inside Parliament, where he can be subject to cross-questioning and even be hooted by the opposition, Modi prefers to speak directly to the people at his public meetings. He lived up to his reputation when he chose to break his silence on Lalitgate and the Vyapam controversy at a public meeting Gaya on Sunday even though the Congress-led Opposition has been demanding that the prime minister speak up on these issues in Parliament.
Modi has shown no urgency in ending the deadlock in Parliament. Adopting a hands-off approach, the prime minister personally made no effort to reach out to the Opposition, which has been demanding the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje.
It was only after two weeks of prolonged disruptions that the government called an all-party meeting last week in an effort to end the deadlock. Chaired by Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, the meeting proved to be an exercise in futility as it failed to resolve the crisis. Both the government and the Opposition stood their ground, with the ruling alliance offering no compromise formula except to say that it is willing to debate these issues in Parliament.
It became evident that the government was not serious about ending the deadlock when Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan suspended 25 Congress members for disorderly conduct shortly after the inconclusive all-party meeting. It is widely acknowledged that this action was taken at the behest of the government, a method used in the Gujarat assembly by Modi when he was chief minister.
Giving up on key Bill
The ruling alliance has already given up on the contentious Land Acquisition Bill currently being scrutinised by a joint committee of parliament. The panel was originally slated to submit its report in the first week of this session but after many extensions, the committee decided on Monday to defer it till the winter session. Although the government has agreed to do away with the controversial provisions in the Bill, the opposition wanted more time to study certain clauses. Having already been branded “anti-farmer”, the ruling alliance does not want to take a risk on this issue before the crucial Bihar assembly elections.
With the monsoon session set to close on August 13 and the Congress adamant about its demand that the prime minister must speak, there is little possibility of any business being transacted in the coming three days. The suspended Congress MPs continued with their slogan-shouting in both Houses on Monday even though the principal Opposition party found itself isolated after several other Opposition parties, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Trinamool Congress, agreed with Samajwadi Party leader Mulayum Singh Yadav that the disruptions had gone too far and they should agree to a debate.
Staking positions
But even on the modalities of a discussion, the government was unwilling to accommodate the Congress. The principal Opposition party had given notices for an adjournment motion to debate Lalitgate and the Vyapam scam but these notices were rejected by the Speaker. An adjournment motion entails a vote and though the National Democratic Alliance government would have sailed through it in the Lok Sabha, it did not want to concede this point as it could be seen as a sign of weakness. It has instead offered a discussion under rule 193, which does not require a vote.
Congress leaders maintained that after persisting with their protests for the past two weeks, they could not afford to back off in the closing days of the session even if it is deserted by other Opposition parties.
Defending his party’s strategy to disrupt proceedings in Parliament, Rahul Gandhi maintained the Congress would not back off till the government offered plausible answers to the questions they had raised about the controversies involving the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders. Singling out Sushma Swaraj for attack, he said, “Sushma gave a very nice speech in Lok Sabha. If she is so caring and concerned about Lalit Modi why did she do it secretly? Why not tell her ministry and the people of India?”
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley responded by hitting out at Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for their insistence on derailing proceedings even when most of their party leaders were willing to end the stalemate.
