Drama House

Mamata Banerjee must be held accountable for Thursday8217;s uncivil drama in Parliament. For hurling a sheaf of paper at the Speaker8217;s...

Mamata Banerjee must be held accountable for Thursday8217;s uncivil drama in Parliament. For hurling a sheaf of paper at the Speaker8217;s podium and finding the target. For following it up with an ill-tempered letter of resignation written in the wrong format. Those who have tracked Didi8217;s parliamentary career will recollect those other instances too. When she sat on dharna in the House. And flung a shawl at a Speaker another time. In this Lok Sabha so far, her attendance in Parliament leaves much to be desired. In general, Banerjee has not been known for her respect for the rules of the game 8212; inside Parliament, in government, in a coalition. She has perfected a fitful brand of politics, revelled in flouncing out of the game at will. So, having criticised the 8220;mercurial8221; leader for acting in a typically mercurial way, can we then move on to the next day in Parliament? That would be the easy thing to do.

Scroll down the events in Parliament on Thursday and it is clear why we may not have the easy way out. On that day, Somnath Chatterjee threatened to throw in the towel as Speaker yet again, this time provoked by a fellow comrade. On that day, too, he adjourned the House in a huff because Home Minister Shivraj Patil was marked absent when he was scheduled to face a calling attention motion on the economic blockade of Manipur. These 8212; Banerjee8217;s outburst, the Speaker8217;s threat, the minister8217;s absence 8212; were unrelated events, but they knit into the same narrative. It has been a long while since a parliamentary session left behind a record of debate and legislation that could withstand even the most forgiving public scrutiny. Or since Parliament made news for lofty speeches and rigorous questions on the floor of the House, on issues that matter to citizens. Parliament hasn8217;t looked like a healthy institution in years. It is a loud spectacle of government and opposition talking at each other. And of the presiding officers8217; helplessness and/or complicity in this dialogue of the deaf.

Mamata Banerjee8217;s display of temper in Parliament may have been calculated, after all. She may just have been posturing with an eye on the emotive issue for the approaching election in West Bengal. But it will be a pity, indeed, if we don8217;t read the larger message that came out of Parliament on Thursday. The maverick politician has sounded a warning that the mainstream cannot afford to ignore.