‘Never had Budget Session been disrupted by Treasury benches in the 75-year history of Indian democracy’: Shashi Tharoor

First of all, Rahul Gandhi has said nothing that requires an apology. The Indian Express carried his statements in detail and it is clear he said that (what is happening in India) is an Indian problem and we have to sort it out in India, and that the rest of the world needs to be aware of this because Indian democracy is a global public good, Indian democracy is in danger and they (the world) cannot be indifferent. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this.

Second, if any leader has said worse on foreign soil about Indian domestic politics, it is Pradhan Mantri Modi, who has said so sadly on five or six occasions, which have been recorded and reported. Mr Modi said nothing good has happened in our country in 65 years, that Indians would earlier hang their heads in shame when they were abroad, that they would wonder what sin they had committed to be born in India, and that only after he (Modi) came to power could Indians hold their head in pride.

This is absolutely disgraceful on the part of the Prime Minister of India. No Prime Minister ever attacked the Opposition abroad earlier. Given that, whatever little Rahul Gandhi said about Indian democracy in danger pales in comparison.

Do you see a deliberate attempt by the BJP to keep Rahul the focus of the attack on the Opposition?

Yes. But it’s not the whole story. Don’t forget that it’s the responsibility of the government to run Parliament. In particular, this is the Budget Session. The passing of the Finance Bill is a national imperative. It’s very clear that in the debate on the Finance Bill, a number of issues would have come up that the government does not want to hear on the floor of Parliament, does not want the TV listeners to hear and does not want them to be debated upon. It seems their first objective is to prevent a serious debate in Parliament during the Budget Session, which is a disgrace.

We had the Winter Session and Monsoon Session affected by previous disruptions, but we never had the Budget Session disrupted by the Treasury benches. In the 75-year history of Indian democracy, it never happened.

Secondly they do not want to give Rahul Gandhi the floor again because of his uncomfortable statements regarding the government’s crony capitalism and the undue favours granted by it to the friends of the Prime Minister and the ruling party. He spoke once, but the remarks were expunged at once. Now they are accusing him of saying something he did not say and asking him to apologise for it. But they are not giving him the floor to either say something about their accusations or to raise substantive issues in national interest, which a prominent Opposition leader should do.

I myself am designated as a speaker on the Finance Bill for the Congress. I am prepared, but I don’t think there is going to be a discussion, the way things are going. My own colleagues are afraid that the BJP will interrupt proceedings till the last minute, then impose a guillotine on the Bills and rush them through the House without a debate. That would be a national disgrace, for the simple reason that to pass something as important as a country’s Finance Bill and the Budget without a discussion is a betrayal of democracy.

Do you think that the government wants to evade a discussion on critical issues at a time when G20 meetings are happening in the country? According to some Opposition leaders, the BJP wants to create a narrative and optics in which there is only PM Modi in the limelight.

That has always been the BJP’s strategy, to ensure a positive narrative at home and abroad. By covering up all wrongdoing, they want to minimise damage, particularly from accurate and well-founded criticism. The fact is that they have a majority inside Parliament. What did we do when we were in government? We would say, ‘Look, it’s their right to have their say, we have the votes and we will have our way’. But that is something that the BJP does not believe in. For them, they will have their way, but the Opposition will not have its say, is also unforgivable.

The Congress has also called the muting of Lok Sabha TV last week while proceedings were on – which was attributed to technical issues – and the Delhi Police visit to Rahul’s house Sunday as moves to keep the Opposition silent.

The drama in front of the house (the police waited outside Rahul’s residence for a couple of hours) was completely preposterous. Because, to begin with, the inquiry itself is not warranted… Look at the actual statement Rahul Gandhi made, that several women came up (to him) and said they had suffered extremely unpleasant experiences but did not want to go to the police because of various restraints in our culture and in our society. They wanted to share this with him as they wanted to talk about their pain. On that basis, they spoke to him, which meant that he was not going to reveal the details publicly or privately. Because these are matters that are confidential.

The police asking him to give details when the actual person did not want him to give details is itself wrong. It’s like asking a journalist to reveal a source that has preferred to remain confidential. In a democracy, this is a very strange way for the police to behave.

They come to his home and question him on a matter when he had already sought 10 days to reply, this makes even less sense. The only inference one can draw is that the BJP wants to turn the media’s attention towards Rahul Gandhi, away from their own failures and challenges in Parliament and before the nation.

So what’s the political purpose of all this, according to you? Is it because key elections are coming up in states where the Congress and the BJP are in a direct fight?

I have no doubt about the political motive. This year there are nine state elections, most of which are between these two principal parties. And then there is the general election next year between the BJP and the Opposition, which is so far divided. They hope they can divide the Opposition more and isolate one party.

This may be their thinking. I am not privy to the BJP’s motivations but all I can say is that in a parliamentary democracy, this kind of behaviour is both unnecessary and unacceptable. It is unnecessary because they have a parliamentary majority and they should be secure in their majority to take criticism, like other majority governments did in the past. It is unacceptable because it’s a betrayal of the basic principles, precedents and conventions of parliamentary democracy.