No partisan, please

Speaker's post has become important for the wrong reasons. The country has just seen how the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Bharatiya Janata Pa...

Speaker8217;s post has become important for the wrong reasons. The country has just seen how the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party fought bitterly for the post in the run up to the formation of the Mayawati-led BSP-BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. It is not because they consider the post prestigious but because they think that when political poaching becomes the order of the day, it is safer to have the speaker on their own side. For instance, on the interpretation of what constitutes a defection under the anti-defection law, the speaker8217;s decision is almost unassailable. Thus when a party insists on getting the post, what it seeks to exploit is not so much the impartiality of the person occupying it as his partisanship. Under such circumstances, what is overlooked is a person8217;s capacity to rise above his political affiliations and conduct the proceedings of the House in an effective manner even while pronouncing his rulings under the legislative provisions but without any partiality whatsoever. With the Telugu Desam Party declining to field a candidate to succeed its own G.M.C. Balayogi 8212; who died in a helicopter crash in March 8212; in protest against the BJP8217;s refusal to replace Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the ruling coalition may have to choose its own nominee.

There is nothing wrong in a ruling party insisting on a speaker from its own ranks. In fact, barring Balayogi and, before him, P.A. Sangma, the speakers have always been from the ruling party, but that alone did not undermine their reputation for impartiality. However, it is nobody8217;s contention that speakers have always been of the eminence of G.V. Mavalankar and M. Ananthasayanam Ayyangar who, incidentally, set many of the traditions that are still followed. Unlike them, Balayogi was a political non-entity until TDP supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu handpicked him for the job. Nonetheless it should be said to his credit that, over a period of time, he adapted himself to the job and even began instilling confidence in the minds of MPs. But this does not negate the argument that a speaker should be able to command the respect of the House by virtue of his stature and knowledge of parliamentary procedures. In no case should a speaker8217;s decision be tainted by his own political affiliation. Otherwise, such decisions will generate suspicion 8212; as had happened in the case of the specious ruling that a political split can be a continuing process.

While it is possible for the NDA to have its own nominee elected to the speaker8217;s post, a better alternative would be to evolve a consensus on the next speaker. Needless to say, a speaker chosen through consensus will be in a far more advantageous position to conduct the proceedings of the House in a smooth manner than one who wins a bitter contest and gets the post. But for this to happen, the ruling coalition should choose a person who is acceptable to a cross-section of the House. The NDA has members who are known for their exemplary conduct in Parliament, administrative skill and personal integrity. The ruling coalition will do well to pick one from among their ranks in preference to rabble-rousers and party spokesmen, who have often attempted to defend even the indefensible.