Another new session has begun in Parliament amid the old noise. So are we headed down the same road again, the one that leads nowhere? The adjournment of Lok Sabha amid ‘‘pandemonium’’ over the ‘‘Ayodhya issue’’ on the first day of the Monsoon session reeks of a sterile, stale politics. Certainly, the issue is a serious one. It must be cause for concern that the tortuous twists and turns of the demolition case seem to take it no closer to a closure. Meanwhile, the chargesheet against senior BJP and VHP leaders has been ‘‘diluted’’: The CBI has been constrained, by the willful inaction of two Uttar Pradesh governments, to retract the charge of criminal conspiracy. Yet as Opposition leaders storm the well of the House, forcing adjournments all over again, they only reinforce the weary sense of an old drama reenacted by rote. If the aim is to ask questions and enforce accountability, wouldn’t it be better served by warding off another breakdown of dialogue, yet another impasse? Unless, of course, the purpose was simply to flaunt a newly-minted Opposition ‘‘unity’’. That unpleasant smell of deja vu is not confined to Parliament. The tasteless slanging match between the Congress and BJP that was kickstarted by the BJP spokesperson’s comments on the Congress chief’s ‘‘foreign origins’’ is also more of the same. With the Congress biting the bait and promptly training its spokespersons on Vajpayee, it is difficult to decide which must be mourned more: The below-the-belt rhetoric flying loose between the ruling party and its main rival? Or the prospect of the Sonia versus Atal balloon being inflated again to dwarf all other issues in the run-up to elections? Be it the manipulation of the criminal justice system by the powers-that-be or the leadership qualities of a prime ministerial candidate — both are valid issues, both deserve a debate. But it is easy to spot the bad faith with which they are being thrown up now. The aim, on both sides, is to divert attention. The aim is to excite and titillate. It would be a shame if another session of Parliament were to be held hostage to the sound and fury worked up over the unending Ayodhya issue. Important Bills have queued up for our lawmakers’ attention: Like the Election and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Bill which seeks to reform the process of donation to political parties. Or the Lokpal Bill. Or the Fiscal Responsibility Bill. It will be a farce, if, going by the sparring so far, election campaigns are reduced to personal muckraking. Would it be too much to expect a greater sense of purpose from the political class? Dare the nation hope for a pact of restraint?
