An election campaign in India is a very long and exacting affair. Although the formal campaign began much later, the past six months of 2019 have been preoccupied with the people’s ultimate verdict. Now that the voters have spoken and given Narendra Modi’s government an unambiguous verdict to govern India for the next five years, it may be time to take a step back, stop the slug fest and devote our attention to the more pressing task of governance.
This week, following the oath-taking by the elected members of the Lok Sabha and the President of India’s address to the joint session of Parliament, normal business is expected to resume. The previous session of the Parliament was exceptionally acrimonious, with the Opposition doing its utmost to stall both the Houses. Its success in the Lok Sabha was limited because the government had a clear majority. However, it succeeded in completely disrupting proceedings in the Rajya Sabha so much so that neither the debate on the President’s address nor any discussion on the Interim Budget could be held. As for legislation, apart from a stray Bill on Leprosy, the Opposition did not allow any other Bill to be moved. For all practical purposes, except for Money Bills, Parliament has been dysfunctional since the end of 2018.
The list of Bills passed in the Lok Sabha but failed to be either discussed or voted upon in 2019 in the Rajya Sabha is very long: they total up to 33. They include controversial legislation such as the Triple Talaq Bill and the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. But they also include relatively non-contentious legislation such as Indian Medical Council Bill, the Extension of Municipalities Bill, the Seeds Bill, the Pesticides Management Bill, the Archaeological Monuments Bill and the Motor Vehicles Bill. At least three of the Bills had even been referred to Select Committees that had submitted their reports. To reintroduce these Bills will call for the entire process to be repeated in the Lok Sabha and then brought to the Rajya Sabha.
At one level, the environment for transacting normal parliamentary business looks encouraging. The BJP, is of course quite buoyant after its electoral success. Simultaneously, the Congress, the largest opposition party — which, however, narrowly missed securing the requisite number of Lok Sabha seats to get its leader formally recognised as the Leader of Opposition — is dispirited and demoralised after the election it hoped to do much better in. As of now, the party hasn’t chosen its floor leader and there is strategic uncertainty in its ranks. Likewise, the regional parties in North India suffer from the same demoralisation. The three southern parties — the DMK, the TRS and the YSRC – are however, quite, enthused by the results, although their intervention in national politics has been modest.
This leaves the two regional parties from the east—the BJD and the TMC. The electoral showing of both these groups has been mixed. The BJD regained control over the state government quite comfortably but lost some ground in the Lok Sabha. The TMC however suffered electoral reverses, although it is still the largest party in West Bengal. But the TMC is in an extremely combative mood because of the twists and turns in local politics. It doesn’t have the numbers to make a mark in the Lok Sabha. However, in the smaller Rajya Sabha, it has the requisite lung power to disrupt proceedings. It may be recalled that on different occasions in the previous session, a small clutch of AIADMK and TDP members had successfully disrupted proceedings for over a week.
Although, I would like to be proved wrong, it is my belief that the TMC is unlikely to play the role of a constructive and responsible opposition in the Upper House. Its leader, Mamata Banerjee, is in a belligerent mood and this is likely to impact the behaviour of its MPs in the Rajya Sabha. Symbolic protests and fiery speeches are a normal feature of parliamentary performance and it would be legitimate for the Opposition to proceed along that route. The more problematic issue is the disruption. How should the Chairman or Deputy Chairman respond to the provocations?
In the Westminster tradition, the Speaker’s command is sacrosanct and unruly behaviour is viewed as a horrifying and unacceptable aberration. Unfortunately, over the years, wilfully disobeying the chair has become the norm and led to the breakdown of the consensus that should, ideally, surround the workings of Parliament. The temporary suspension of the disruptive MPs, far from injecting good sense, has been seen as additional; provocation and has worsened matters.
This situation cannot continue indefinitely. The paralysis of Parliament will erode popular faith in democracy and encourage governments to try and bypass Parliament as much as possible. Political sparring is fine but a dysfunctional democracy is completely unacceptable.
It is to be hoped that the presiding officers of both the Houses and the government takes the initiative to address the larger questions of dysfunctionality that gripped Parliament in the first half of 2019. The voters did their job and reposed faith in democracy as the most effective instrument of decision-making. Now it is for the MPs to live up to the popular faith. The alternatives are truly horrifying.
India needs more parliamentary time and more work for its MPs. But for that to happen, faith in parliamentary rules and conventions have to be immediately restored. The quality of Indian democracy is at stake, as is effective governance.
The writer is a senior journalist and Member of Parliament, being a presidential nominee to the Rajya Sabha.
