Wasted freedom

The just-concluded monsoon session of Parliament provides confirmation, if any was needed, that for our political class, petty politics and short-term point-scoring trump substantive issues and long-term vision. The entire session was lost to raucous agitation inside Parliament and legislative business was not allowed to take place. At the end of it all, the adjournment motion to discuss the so-called ‘Lalitgate’ scam failed to cover either the Congress, which had led the agitation, or the BJP, which was forced to defend its minister, with any glory. It was mere sound and fury, signifying nothing. In the process, the constitutional amendment required to make the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) a reality could not be passed. The GST now runs the risk of missing the April 2016 deadline for roll-out.

Clearly, the single most important piece of tax reform in recent years, a reform which could have led to transformative change in economy, was not considered politically important enough to cause petty politicking to be set aside long enough for this to be discussed, leave alone passed. If the Congress, or other political parties, had substantive issues with the GST Bill as it stands, the forum to discuss this was inside Parliament, not in television studios or newspaper columns and social media. One wonders whether some other issue with political or electoral implications would have been treated in the same cavalier manner. Would they have held Parliament to ransom if, for instance, the decadal constitutional amendment Bill for extension of reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled tribes was due in the last session? Would they have had the nerve to risk letting it lapse rather than give in on a “point of principle”? While the Congress is the villain of the piece this time around, the BJP did not behave very differently a few years ago, obstructing the GST Bill and other pieces of legislation, from being passed. Other political parties, including regional parties which represent States which stand to gain substantially from GST, are also equally to blame for putting politics above the interests of the people they claim to represent. Unfortunately, this tendency is now the norm rather than the exception. After all, the entire political class ganged up to neutralise the proposed Lok Pal Bill, which had come about as the result of a mass agitation which, at that time at least, enjoyed considerable public support. The Land Bill is likely to suffer the same fate, with political parties unwilling, or unable, to progress beyond optics to discuss substantive issues with the gravity they merit.

As the nation celebrated its 69th Independence Day on Saturday, one can only hope that our lawmakers paused to reflect on the meaning of freedom and what exactly they are doing with that hard-won legacy. For starters, they could consider putting the nation’s interest above that of vote-bank electoral politics.

COMMENT NOW