Opinion All on the House

Five assembly elections should have lent some equilibrium or at least resulted in a truce,but the ennui continued and resulted in a growing perception about the government secretly working very hard on a how-to-squander-a-mandate manual. Legislatures worldwide are currently struggling to forge some measure of bipartisanship and,certainly,the fears expressed about the Indian Parliament have sometimes been overstated,but they do frame a clear and present concern.

After the monsoon session’s dips and highs,again,in the context of Anna Hazare’s “fast” having been resumed,it was time to question Parliament again. It all eventually held together,but only just. And now,with Parliament getting ready to meet on Tuesday,the Centre is armed with several bills,partly to counter the charge hurled at it for more than a year about the absence of legislative business.

The tone of this session would,in some sense,be set by the occurrences of the last day of the monsoon session of the House,with all parties giving their views on how corruption must be fought,and how the debate on corruption or the Lokpal should be framed,including a surprise intervention by Rahul Gandhi. The political class was responding to a spirited attack on Parliament by Anna Hazare activists,anxious to push what they set out to as the best way to fight corruption.

For all the nerves left frazzled then,what it did was put Parliament under sharp focus. It was a rapid reckoner on things like standing committees,how laws are made,how the public can engage in law-making,how it already does and what are the limits to that. Light shone on all of these served to illumine its strengths and highlight the rust within as well.

So,just after this episode of the engagement with politics of the middle class (not necessarily just the upper crust,but all shades of it) in cities and in towns,and looking for connections between their woes and the big institutions (a way of politicising themselves,getting out of the false belief that the system doesn’t bother me),this session of Parliament is a crucial one in which the institution has the challenge of asserting its role and importance.

Parliament sessions can,and do,serve as the theatre where competing political visions can be showcased and help in educating people,who are not just voters but citizens,as they are either won over,convinced or alienated by what their representatives decide. Of course,it is vital that in any parliamentary session,the balance between discussions on bills specifically and debates over other issues that reflect the “mood” of the country is kept. But the importance of this set of debates on random issues is often understated,or rather taken for granted,amidst the predictable clashes amongst politicians or parties.

However,the absence of these debates,as happened last year,is what results in allowing the political matrix to go stale,not generating sufficient ideas,angles or even heat,thus pushing citizens to look for mechanisms outside institutions set up for the purpose of recording dissent.

Indian democracy is celebrated for its ability to capaciously take in it tremendous diversities,and push ahead. And Parliament is a very important vehicle in that exercise. The way in which representation of each Indian adult is mediated through panchayat,block,state and parliamentary representatives may be fashionably run down these days as something that slows down a potential “revolution”. But all in all,it is also the same system which gives each of us a right,a voice and an ability to push for change too,eventually.

Of course,there have often been attempts by those in power to hijack the system,and swing rules,fix things,for the unjust benefit of a certain group or privileged persons,which is what the debate on corruption has highlighted.

That the system needs to be fixed,changed and made to adapt for a whole charter of long-pending,unfulfilled demands is now almost universally acknowledged. And that is where those agitating against aspects of the system — as is — are well taken. But eventually,for any of these things to emerge as set principles (not just laws),it is Parliament that will have to find a way and deliver. It doesn’t matter what Kiran Bedi says from under a checked towel about MPs,as it is about more than them,it is the House of MPs that would be on display next week,and we will be all watching.

It is also important to recall that after the virtual abandonment of the winter session last year,blame was sought to be apportioned between the government and the opposition. But those arguments have worn out,both sides have their work cut out,to ensure that the system as a whole works. The Centre,tasked with pushing and ensuring so much unfulfilled legislative business,must doggedly try and keep the focus on doing that. The opposition would try and keep the “debate” focused on what it sees as the hot button issues,like inflation. The deft balance between bill-drafting and debating will decide how successful Parliament is in winning back critics who have been very vocal of late. If the balance is skewed,it may seem like a temporary victory to either side,but will eventually damage the institution,that not only gives power and credibility to those in power and those who are not,but also ensures the liberty and freedoms of each one of us.

seema.chishti@expressindia.com