I was aghast at an eminent lawyer of the standing of Arun Jaitley, who is a former Minister to boot, aggressively asserting in TV news channels the right of the BJP to resort to “obstructionism” in Parliament to force the Government to accept its stand on the CAG report on the allocation of coal blocks. But for such “obstructionism”, he claimed, the former Minister of Communications, A. Raja, would not have been driven to resign for his involvement in the 2G scam.
By perversely legitimising “obstructionism”, the BJP has wittingly converted itself from ‘a party with a difference’ to a party of destructive politics. Thereby, the party has chosen to pull down the entire architecture of parliamentary democracy.
It is puzzling to me because the party has within its fold a number of seasoned personages, who would normally merit being regarded as enlightened and even erudite. L. K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, M. Venkiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley himself, to mention just a few examples, are persons of no mean calibre.
They have all, in addition, had the benefit of leadership of Atal Behari Vajpayee, who was also the recipient of the best Parliamentarian award and could have been expected to school his acolytes in the sanctity of Parliament in a democracy such as India claims to be.
How come such a party is demeaning itself by antics that can only cause revulsion in the minds of the right-thinking people? I would earnestly ask the BJP leaders to take some lessons from the conduct of political leaders in the Opposition in a mature democracy like that of Britain. This they can do merely by watching live telecasts of proceedings by channels like those of the BBC.
There have been egregious lapses by the ruling party there in times of grave consequence to the people such as during the Second World War, the period of violence in Ireland as also in recent times over British Government’s policies on Afghanistan and Iraq, terrorist attacks, and the financial crisis.
AWFUL IRONY
The Opposition in the UK invariably displays a high sense of responsibility and restraint, and never once raises the peremptory demand for the Prime Minister’s or the Government’s resignation, nor indulges in rowdy behaviour stalling the functioning of Parliament. All differences in approach and all failures and omissions are discussed with great dignity and decorum within the House, the members instantly obeying the directions of the Chair.
The BJP, especially, takes pride in the attributes of India’s hoary culture and civilisation, and is all worked up over the temple for Rama, the maryada purushottam, the very picture of ideals and values. Isn’t it an awful irony that leaders of such a party should be setting such a baleful example to the younger generation and their own followers by their violation of every canon that Rama stood for?
Judged by any touchstone of propriety, procedure or democratic norms, the BJP’s obduracy in persisting with the demand for the Prime Minister’s resignation, and making that conditional on letting the Parliament function, is totally unwarranted.
The PM’s resignation, in effect, means the resignation of the whole Government and plunging the nation into turmoil. It is utterly irresponsible to knowingly tear asunder the social and economic fabric of a country passing through critical times. There are no words strong enough to condemn it.
The BJP, by wantonly obstructing Parliament from placing before the nation during a debate all issues and aspects arising from the CAG’s report, by unfairly imposing its own unilateral imputation of culpability to the Prime Minister, and by threatening resignation of its MPs, has lowered the esteem in which Parliament elected by the people, the sovereign masters, should be held.
The party should get back to acceptable methods of reconciling disputes between the Government and the Opposition derived from the Indian Constitution.
For instance, strictly speaking, it is premature even to have a debate on the CAG report, let alone for the PM resign.
There is the duly constituted Public Accounts Committee, chaired by a member from the Opposition, to go into the report with a toothcomb and submit its conclusions to both Houses.
The BJP should hold its soul in patience until the PAC finishes its task and then train its guns on the Government, if necessary.
Keywords: Arun Jaitley, right of BJP, resort "obstructionism" in Parliament, CAG report, allocation of coal blocks
Comments:
I was aghast at you Mr. Raghavan that you are effectively arguing to have the government off hook that is sitting on the worst scandals this nation has seen. UPA 2's rule has been big scandals one after the other and look at their arrogance, they don't even consider this as scam. Whats worse, they haven't even reshuffled their ministers directly or indirectly engaged in these scams.
If your suggestion for BJP is not raise concern, you are practically suggesting that we should move on and stop questioning government. I am no fan of BJP and don't even vote for them, but I am shocked to see instead of raping government, you are putting blame on BJP.
Lastly, UPA 2 can replace the Prime Minister and build new cabinet. This doesn't mean the whole nation will go in state of turmoil. Their resignation will only restore confidence among citizens that they have power to replace the corrupt ministers.
in britain PM bribes to win confident vote?
BJP's obduracy and sticking to its demand for PM resignation is totally warranted and right considering the spate of corruptions in Inda.
APEX Court must pay attention to.. and to Citizen's Voice !!
Dear Editor,
As is known for its reputation for its neutrality with high ethical standard, B.S.Raghavan calls a spade a spade. Though many a time he praised the stand of BJP he now rightly condemns the behaviour of its MPs in Parliament. Since PM has offerred to discuss threadbare all CAGs points in Parliament it is unfortunate that all eminent MPs of BJP are unanimously demanding resignation of PM and nothing less. At least now after public cry on thier behaviour in Parliament better sense will prevail and allow the discussion/debate in Parliament. Raghavan.
Very balanced article. But it is futile to write as it will cut no ice with BJP. The party, the middle class of India supported in the hope of seeing totally a different governance with decency, honesty and transparency, has failed. BJP has been paying only lip service to Maryada Ram and used the revered name, to say mildly shamelessly, to come to power. The party's governance in states leaves a lot to be desired, even in Gujarat, which its spin doctors are projecting it as something outstanding. Nothing is outstanding in Gujarat. By nature, friendly and amiable gujaratis are entreprenurs. Infrastructure has been in top form even before Modiji arrived on the scene. Please look at the social side of the state. It is appalling. Karnataka less said more better. Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh the same. The party needs a strong dose of complete overhaulling and reorientation. Atalji is sorely missied. Very sad degeneration
Thank you Mr Raghavan, for bringing this up. Rowdyism in public life should be
strongly put down. The independence struggle is over, and satyagrahas, specially
their recent virulent derivatives, have passed their sell-by date. There is a
functioning legal system (though the inherent delays therein need to be addressed),
and protests should be peaceful and dignified. Why do we as a country still condone
destruction of public property and putting the disciplined services at risk for some
event that happens far away, sometimes even outside the country?
There are too many thugs and criminals in politics. Can BJP and other opposition
parties set an example by being gentlemen, or is it too much to ask of the
politicians?
what congress did in the telehka issue, now the BJP is doing. nothing wrong in this.. the hindu group has become a chamcha of congress. when i saw in the tv media n.ram is speaking as if he is a spokeperson of the congress...
Many readers tend to form opinions without getting into the details - after all, this is the day of minimal knowledge, maximum noise ! The coalgate scam is no loss at all - coal block allocation is a policy followed since ages (not 2004 as used in CAG reports) including NDA and, whose change to auctioning was mooted by Dr. MMS, but opposed by the Left and BJP state govts ! Same is the case with 2G - it is govt's prerogative to price spectrum (like it prices diesel, agricultrual crops etc). CAG's computation of presumptive losses in such cases is weird and it gets used mischievously by various players. But then these details are of no consequence to keyboard warriors who only wish to scream and shout ! With such dumb voters and crooked political parties, God save this country.
I think the BJP is still smarting from the loss of power in 2004,they
thought they made India shine ,but the Indian voter thought otherwise.
I agree with Mr.Raghavan,the House PAC can create all the havoc for
the Govt in its hearings and I think hear the Govt should not be a
holy cow and allow the PM or any Ministers be summoned,like they are
requesting on 2G scam.
The Coal Report the PM should be summoned by PAC and made to account
for his actions/decisions during his control of the Ministry.
Holding Parliament to ransom in such a manner is a blot on the
Parliament System and sends a very wrong message to the Country.
"I would earnestly ask the BJP leaders to take some lessons from the conduct of political leaders in the Opposition in a mature democracy like that of Britain. " - If BJP had been mature, knowledgeable, honest and shrewd by this time almost all in UPA will be facing investigation.Having said that is there an alternative to BJP at the moment? Do BS Raghavan still wants to live in fools paradise thinking that UPA will address all the issues facing the nation so that India becomes a modern country? Congress(i)or its earlier avtaar has been in power for almost 54 years out of 65 years since independence, they have messed up the country.Few more years of their rule will permanently damage the structure because they have become extremely greedy and head strong.It is time we throw out rotten eggs.
As Anna and Baba are not available to help BJP, theseare the tactics BJP has adopted, they know that if they allow govt. to function, govt. is likely to bring important bills which will benifit people, so, they will keep the parliament crippled.
Gandhiji once said that his biggest worry for India is the
"insensitivity of intellectuals". This article proves that. Congress
can loot, can walk away from PAC, can arrogantly promote Power
minister to Home minister despite disasters and still it is only the
BJP who needs to understand what is decent behaviour? It is this
"decency" of the intelligentsia that allows all the lawlessness to
prevail. No sooner somebody raises a voice against anything blatantly
wrong, the intellectuals start debating the "correct ways" of
dissenting. It is the same class that started advising Annaji as soon
as he raised voice against corruption. But have you ever questioned
"why should the PM not resign?", "what has he done for the benefit of
the nation"? We use complicated phrases like "parliamentary supremacy"
etc. to dilute the damage done by corruption. I see such approach as
similar to - waiting for the police to come and "allow the law to take
its rightful course" when your mother is being raped!
BJP is proving to be irresponsible opposition by holding up Parliament to ransom. The CAG report is to be vetted by PAC ,and after their recpommendations ,The opposition can take stand whether to support or oppose. There is some vested interested parties at the behest of foreign elements to foment trouble and bring a sort of Anarchy in the country.As far as corruption is concerned it has to be dealt from grass roots. we all indians are corrupt in one way or the other . unless we raise our self character ,the corruption will stay. Let the Democratic system be allowed to work. God bless India
So why is the writer silent about the BJP's charge that the UPA is
seeking a debate and a PAC on Coalgate only because it uses its
numbers to scuttle any meaningful examination of the CAG reports and
ensures it is an exercise in futility? Now isn't this unparliamentary
behaviour worthy of castigation, Mr Raghavan or do you want to keep
quiet about it only because there is a "secular" Congress involved in
this double-dealing? The PM vociferously defended Raja's decisions
earlier after the CAG report came out and only had to keep quiet after
the courts took up the matter. He and the Congress are using similar
methods now only because the PM is personally getting dragged now. Why
should the PM be let off the hook, only because he is percieved to be
honest? If he indeed is, let him and the Congress subject their
decisions to scrutiny in the courts and come out of this test of fire
unscathed.
My comment might shick everyone, but we have to appreciate congress for letting CAG, CBI all work on their own and bring out the scams, even if some insiders are invloved... Scams in India have always been there... but no government except congress in the recent times have brought out the maximum number of scams into light...they have even burned their bridges with allies in the process... i think we shd all appreciate their efforts in fixing things..
When people like team Anna or baba ramdev raise the same issues govt responds that they should join eloctoral democracy and then raise the issues.Now when elected members of parliament raise issue on corruption govt not only denies any charge of corruption but also claims that no loss has been made to the country.Now only Mr raghavan can suggest us what the people of india can expect from this thich skinned govt which is doing scam after scam,
Only way left to the opposition is that they are doing.This is exactly what the people of india should do out of the parliament.
BJP sees no other way to ride ladder of Power.
I do not agree with BJP.
CAG has submitted a report, and no one else has validated it yet. And
either in report they specified PM was the beneficiary of this loss to
the exchequer. In such a scenario, stalling the parliament and asking
for a resignation provides no meaning. Also, every state government is
taking steps to make electricity cheap in their states, thereby making a
lose to the country, but a temporary gain to the citizen (Does this mean
that every state government should resign?).
Dear Mr Ramanathan, If you abuse the opposition for their extreme then I think you yourself guilty of committing the same. Writing an opinion piece which is so blindly one sided and defending the govt as if you are not a newspaper columnint but their spokesperson.. Please keep it to yourself rather than propagating....
BJP should also come on streets and fast the way anna did and demand PM's resignation
Seldom have I come across the article in such tonality.
The writer has failed to highlight the premises on which certain
judgements in the article are based e.g. "...It is puzzling to me
... himself, to mention just a few examples, are persons of no
mean calibre."
In any democracy the opposition's work is to create 'constructive
noise'. However, whether it is 'Left, Right or Center' there are
instances when Parliament's/Vidhan Sabha's proceedings were
stalled and the ruling Government woke up to the issues. One may
call it 'destructive'. So be it if it is leading to some strong
actions. Do you think that A. Raja would have gone to jail so
easily or we would have seen steps towards making strong 'Telecom
Bill' (thanks to Mr. Sibal) had such noise would not have been
created?. Even by saying so I am not the votary of destructive
politics.
Moreover, it is accepted that the 'Coal allocation' policy was
existing from earlier but who were beneficiaries? All Congress
party industrialist
Respected Arun Jaitly is using his good vocabulary for wrong purpose. Since has retired from Practicing Advocate He is projecting as full fledged politician but without regard towards the Nation and towards the Parliament.Full nation is at loss to understand the motto of BJP.CAG is not the ultimate authority neither it is flawless.There are ways to Check and recheck.When Governing Party is ready for debate then why not? all these cast doubts on intention of Leading Opposition Party.
Dear Mr Raghavan, Please dont use this publication to write editorial columns that are so one sided and portray you as a congress spokesperson. Opinion pieces are supposed to be opinions not judgemental. Also you seem to be forgetting 2G,CWG,Adarsh and many more. You are ignoring that the same CAG's report was considered to remove Raja, Kanimozhi etc and now when PM has been named in a CAG report, COngress claims that its flawed and motivated. Please also note that the UPA is not working on the advice of CMs of opposition rules states so that argument that BJP states were against auctioning and hence the corruption is hard to digest.... I know BJP should be adopting better political strategy to oppose this but to infer that the UPA govt is oblivious of any corruption and are saints is a pity...
All this about a report suggesting 'notional loss'. This means Coal India's turnover would go up so much that it earn more than the GDP of many in the EU. Enough to give free fertilizer to farmer. Same argument would be that removal of petrol and diesel subsidy would make Indian Oil and other Public sector Oil companies very profitable. Notional loss is a dumb concept. Why not auction land for highways instead of giving it away for nearly nothing. Imagine what the toll might be.
The man who has come with notional losses needs a reality check. Even his colleagues haven't agreed with him
The BJP is playing for 2014. Prevent anything from happening for 2 years, paralyze Parliament, prevent governance, and hope it gets them votes.
The BJP argument is no discussion, just listen to us, just resign.
We should argue with a person who is ready to listen and act if he understands your point. But in this case congress does not want to act. Shamelessly their implied behavior is "Do whatever you can we will not change". So, BJP is right in not letting the parliament function
It is true that there are so many scams during this government of Mrs sonia gandhi though for name sake PM is helpless MR. MMS. However i am of the firm opinion that matter should be discussed in Lok sabha
I absolutely agree with Mr. Raghavan, BJP is just wasting the time of the nation with the obstructionist tactics. It is time that all parties work together to move the nation forward and leave the CRAB mentality. If BJP wants PM to resign let them bring a no confidence motion and defeat the government in the parliament.
I am saying this again. The challenge is for the country to advance globally and it is not BJP or Congress. It is not democracy nor dictatorship at stake here. It is the image of the country.
Whatever impacts negatively on the image of India at this critical time for our country should be considered anti-national.
Follow the example of Israel - the parties disappear when the national interest are stake.
India has start closing the gap with other countries e.g China
I am not aghast at the BJP, Neither do I think this is the real issue which needs to be focused. We must focus in the favor of nation or at least sense of Nation. Who can deny, we caught up in trap the bigger and dangerous issues. Whenever it come to ruling party is being targeted by anyone ie. BJP, Annna , Ramdev or their own deeds. There is always “a lot” in print media as well as Visual Media., who do not even start to defend the government or focus the real issue but they start to pelt the stones at other side which leads citizen to utter confusion. This is nothing but digressing the real issue. This is an organized and planned activity. Well in my views, functioning of Parliament must be fixed for that number of days. Session of the Parliament must be extended by same number of days, both side must follow it.
A one sided article . Pariamentary obstructionism was started by
Sonia Gandhi to hound out George Fernandes during NDA times. Mr
Raghavan is displaying journalistic myopia. What about
transparency, governance and honesty. Why should the country
condone such loots like 2G, CWG, AI, Airport, Coalgate and so on.
Now that the politicians are bent on fixing the judiciary it is
freeway for corruption in future. Govt has been our largest NPA.
It is running with Sonia Gandhis IQ and probity levels and not of
Dr MMS's of yester years. He is now being just pathetic.
@Sahil,
According to our constitution, if PM resigns, then the whole cabinet
will have to be dismissed. So, in a way it is correct that our country
would go into a turmoil.
I think we need a solution to a lot of topics remaining dormant when one
of them get stuck. I suggest every day be 2 sessions. Morning session's
topic, if pending, shall pass to the next morning. Afternoon, a topic
different from the one discussed in the morning shall be discussed. This
way, even if one session gets stuck, the other can transact business.
If the likelihood of two topics being controversial simultaneously, we
may have to have 4 sessions a day, of 2 hours each, discussing different
topics.
First of all PM is to be appreciated for proposing auction which lead CAG to think on the belated presumptive loss. The proposal was mooted by the opposition ruled states. The same opposition party is making noise for not auctioning the coal block. But, even if there exist a lacuna or loss, I surprise why the CAG took so many years to find the loss to find to reach a big figure. The CAG could do it very well at the end of 2004 annual auditing. This means CAG deliberately or unknowingly did a big fault to the Nation and the fault rest with the CAG itself should be charged for dereliction of duties. But, I have the same view expressed by Mr Suresh in this column
We do not allow protests outside the parliament, we ban social websites to post anything against government so people will be loud and noisy in the parliament.This is natural consequence.Gone are days when likes of Lal Bahadur Shastri and Madhavrao Sindia resigned taking moral and ethical resposibility.Yeh Besharm Sarkar doosri Bhasha nahi Samajti.Scams after scams are comming out and if people are not allowed to vent out their anger, there is only one way left out...REVOLUTION!!!
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