House arrest

The rains have still not arrived in New Delhi, but Parliament’s pre-recess monsoon session has definitely been washed out. On Friday, fugitive minister Shibu Soren loomed large in both Houses once again, and early in the day both presiding officers adjourned proceedings. Parliament now meets again on August 16. But the three-week interregnum must see serious interaction between emissaries of the government and the opposition and the speaker on how to rescue Parliament from a vicious spiral of adjournments and walkouts. Parliament is the highest law-making body in the land, and when its proceedings fragment into anarchy, into political brawls, the omens for our democracy are depressing.

Legislatures have always divided along political lines. Separations between the treasury benches and the opposition have always tended to be stark. That is the way of parliamentary democracy. But when they sit in the House to transact business and debate the issues of the day, MPs are expected to work from an area of consensus. For the most part, that consensus is founded upon agreed rules, regulations and commitments. It is a consensus that allows Parliament to function as both an avenue for the opposition to seek clarifications and interrogate the ruling dispensation over any perceived wrongs or mis-steps, and as a forum for the government to solicit approval for policy and budget proposals. Indeed, a parliamentarian’s day is structured to facilitate this balance. This is why the current deadlock in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha is unacceptable. The NDA parties have every right to voice their discomfort over “tainted” ministers — and over Coal and Mines Minister Shibu Soren in particular. But they also bear the responsibility of questioning the government on the functioning of various ministries and provisions in the Union budget. By paralysing Parliament, they renege on this task.

The recess will give the government and the opposition an opportunity to quietly craft a solution — based perhaps on government magnanimity in allowing certain debates demanded by the opposition and on the opposition heeding the presiding officer’s primacy in negotiating the day’s schedule. Else, they should just call off the rest of the session.