The Winter Session of Parliament has been defined in breach. On December 13, two young men, evidently aided and abetted by four others outside, jumped onto the benches from the Visitors’ Gallery, released pressurised smoke. That they could smuggle in foreign objects into the House is a serious security lapse, it needs a threadbare investigation and fixing of culpability and accountability.
On December 18 and 19, came another breach, this time of the very principles of India’s highest legislature and deliberative body, and the spirit of the Constitution that animates it. Both Houses passed by voice vote resolutions that have resulted in the suspension of 141 MPs, all of them from the Opposition, many for the remainder of the session.
In 1989, Rajiv Gandhi had flexed his 400-plus muscle to suspend 63 MPs but the way the sledgehammer has been used this time and the sheer number of those affected is a new low in Parliamentary history. The Opposition MPs demanded that the Home Minister inform the House about the security lapse on December 13 and let there be a discussion on the way forward.
Certainly, this is a valid demand. An FIR and six arrests cannot be the closure to this breach. It is the MPs’ job, in fact, it’s their duty, to demand answers. Slogans were shouted, placards waved and a few MPs on Monday even tried to clamber onto the Speaker’s dais. That was unseemly behaviour but it can, in no way, justify the action — so disproportionate that it smacks of contempt of the House.
On December 3, the BJP scored formidable victories in the Assembly elections. Its leadership framed it, justifiably, as the renewal of trust of the public — the janata janardan — in the party’s promises for better governance. The BJP’s arithmetic in both Houses of Parliament is rock-solid and unchallenged giving it the most unequivocal of mandates to push through its legislative agenda.
Indeed, it has consistently done so, fast-forwarding Bills, many a time bypassing committees that would have weighed in and enriched the legislative process. So why this prickliness, this remarkably thin skin that would rather see a Bill passed by cheerleaders and the faithful in an echo chamber than on the floor of the House with Opposition members seated? Inaugurating the new Parliament premises on May 28 this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi eloquently invoked the Vedic tradition of sabhas and samitis to underline how this was “not just a building,” but the “temple of our democracy”, that reflects “the aspirations and dreams of 140 crore Indians” and, in doing so, sends the “message of India’s determination to the world.”
The en masse suspensions fly in the face of this — in letter, in spirit and in action. The MPs suspended means the about five crore people they represent no longer have a voice in Parliament; this wounds the cardinal idea of representation, that they are all from the Opposition further salts that wound. It also sends a message to Assemblies, presiding officers, indeed, all ruling parties that you can rid the legislature of the Opposition — if you so wish. Forget respect for legislative process; an election win, getting the numbers, is all you need to subvert the House, kick out those you don’t like. This, too, is a reprehensible breach.
