Having done the country proud over the Lokpal Bill debate, Parliament sank back into its usual shaming ways last week.
This time, it was the appointment of Lokayukta by the Governor in Gujarat. It brought the BJP MPs into the Well of the House.
The party even appealed to the President to recall the Governor, Ms Kamla Beniwal, saying she had bypassed the Gujarat Government to appoint a retired High Court judge, Mr R.A. Mehta, as the Lokayukta of the State.
New headache
Sensing no action from the Congress, the BJP warned that the Government should not expect co-operation from the principal Opposition on various issues. This is a new headache for Mr Pranab Mukherjee.
He has been seeking the BJP's support to get the insurance, banking and pension Bills to be passed. The Standing Committee of Finance, headed by the BJP leader, Mr Yashwant Sinha, has given its report on the Pension Bill and expected to submit its report on Banking Bill soon.
However, sources in the Congress say the Government is not worried because it doesn't think these two Bills will be brought in the current session of Parliament, which is scheduled to close on September 8. Some compromise formula could be worked out for the winter session, they say. But, Mr Mukherjee is perturbed.
Sports Bill
During Question Hour, in the Rajya Sabha last week, he showed his displeasure clearly over the regular disturbance of the proceedings. The Government had lined up 35 Bills for consideration and passage during this session.
But now, with just four days left, even reaching up to half of that number looks impossibly difficult. But all is not lost. Some BJP leaders shook hands with few prominent ministers over the proposed Sports Bill, which at least five senior ministers opposed vehemently.
Finally, the Bill was taken back. The Sports Ministry may have to rewrite the Bill and the Cabinet may constitute a group of ministers for wider consultation on this Bill. So, Mr Mukherjee is likely to add one more GoM under his chairmanship.
Where is Rahul?
After the famous ‘Friday' speech, the Congress General Secretary, Mr Rahul Gandhi, is nowhere to be seen. It is believed that he has gone to bring back his mother from the US, but there is no official confirmation. However, Mr Gandhi would not like to hear what a prominent Hindi News channel says.
The channel's survey result claimed that, if there is an election now, the BJP will have an upper hand in all the regions barring the South. However, even in the South, the support for the Congress is at low, the survey said. ‘Should BJP press for the mid-term election'? Its leaders are not very sure.
They feel that their party's response to the Anna agitation was not very clear.
There were individuals who scored, but not a party as a whole. Nonetheless, the voters, especially those who in 18-25 age group, are not in a mood to support a traditional political party as the new idols are Anna and his team.
Tale of two Gurus
After failing to convince others that there is a conspiracy against him, Swami Agnivesh is on a silent mode. Even Team Anna has disconnected from him.
On the other hand, the other guru, Baba Ramdev, is trying hard to convince people that his association with Anna is getting stronger and stronger.
He does not miss an opportunity to accuse the Government of betraying Anna.