‘Somnath, Mulayam, they just want to go on and on’

In an interview to Sankarshan Thakur of The Sunday Express, BJP chief whip and parliamentary spokesman V.K. Malhotra blames the decline in p...

In an interview to Sankarshan Thakur of The Sunday Express, BJP chief whip and parliamentary spokesman V.K. Malhotra blames the decline in parliamentary debate on the fact that very few MPs do their homework, preferring to hog the limelight through sheer lung power. Excerpts:

Do you think there is something seriously wrong with Parliament that needs correction?
There is. Earlier, all this used to happen only in State Legislatures and that too rarely. Parliament was free from this drama. The Speaker used to be supreme, people spoke within the time allotted to them, they did not disrupt others. There were always political differences. People like Shyama Prasad Mookerjee and A.B. Vajpayee had huge differences with the Congress. So did the Communists. But it never came to this. Now it is a free for all.

Why has this happened?
Because people just don’t want to agree to procedures. Somnath Chatterjee wants to go on speaking endlessly on any and every issue. So does Mulayam Singh. They have no respect for the time allotted, or parliamentary norms. Others think all of Parliament is about Zero Hour, they go on shouting, no matter what is happening.

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Your party members do the same.
There is a difference. When we took up Bofors or Sukh Ram, we said we wanted a discussion and the government did not want any. Here we say we want a discussion and all the Opposition wants to do is shout and disrupt. How can you sort out anything without a debate? Let us have debates.

But isn’t this about a general decline across party lines?
Yes, I agree. Several factors are responsible. Chief among them is that very few MPs want to do serious homework and indulge in serious debate. Even in our party, I admit, there are only a handful. And that is because they get all the media attention and publicity without doing homework. They shout during Zero Hour, they disrupt proceedings, they shout slogans and they are all over the media. It is so easy. Why do homework and waste your time? Even when they become Presiding Officers of the House, some members cannot control themselves. Take Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, look at his behaviour even as Presiding Officer. Terrible.

Isn’t it true that disruptions have become more the norm under your government?
No. During the Congress time, they enjoyed huge majorities and the Opposition was mostly divided, it did not have a chance to disrupt proceedings like the Congress now has. There has been a general decline in standards, but that is all around. From our side, we have made all efforts to accommodate the Opposition. In the first meeting of the business advisory committee, we told them give us at least two days in a week for legislative business and take two days for whatever you want to discuss. But no. They do not even want to discuss or debate.

So what is to be done?
We all have to stick to certain norms, the pledges we have taken. But nobody seems bothered. Each one simply blames the other.

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