Curtains came down on the Budget session of Parliament on April 6 with this second half of the session marked by a tumultuous standoff that resulted in a gridlock during the past four weeks.
For 15 days on the trot since March 13, members occupying the ruling and opposition benches refused to yield any ground or show signs of retreat from thier maximalist positions.
Unbreakable Deadlock
The BJP members including those representing the treasury remained steadfast in demanding an apology from now disqualified Congress Lok Sabha member Rahul Gandhi for his remarks made in London while the disparate Opposition closed ranks insisting on setting up an investigating Joint Parliamentary Committee to go into the Adani issue.
By its composition, Parliament remains a place where both the government and the opposition occupy space and irrespective of the members strength on the benches on either side of the aisle, the Houses function through a spirit of accommodation. Notwithstanding, deadlocks over contentious issues it has been a convention for parliamentary party managers from all sides to arrive at a workable solution to end the stalemate.
Yet, this time around while there were intermittent reports of behind the scenes efforts to find a way out of the political maze, in the end there was no meeting point. While it cannot be characterised as breakdown of communication between the treasury bench/ruling coalition and combined opposition, as days wore by the atmosphere did not improve. This indicates that neither side was willing to step down from their respective perches.
Agitation’s Downside
While opposition continued to remind that it was the members on treasury benches who took a lead in stalling the proceedings, it can be argued that the former did not have an alternate plan to put the government on the mat.
Barring work in the Committees that examined Budget proposals, government policies and programmes were simply not subjected to steady scrutiny by Parliament. The country watched the passage of Rs 45 lakh crore of budgetary provisions of the Finance Bill with no meaningful discussion.
In the end, the opposition did not get any opportunity to raise either the Adani issue or other matters including economic and foreign policy issues or price rise that affects large swathes of the population.
Monsoon Session's Prospects
Will the hardened positions taken by either side in Parliament continue and resurface during the Monsoon session? This would depend on a clutch of factors including outcome on Karnataka assembly elections to be held next month where the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are principal contenders and the progress in Rahul Gandhi’s defamation case and his Lok Sabha membership disqualification on that count.
In earlier times, a well-known socialist leader once admonished younger members of his party for stalling proceedings reminding that it is only when the Houses function the opposition can have its say.
Parliament is where programmes and policies go through a process and the crucible of politics. It is the place where the Executive is held to account and that right should not be frittered away. One can argue that this is not the first time. Certainly. Yet as the country’s parliamentary democracy heads towards its diamond jubilee, the disruption of Parliament’s functioning has become the norm.
Opposition’s Unity Facade
It is here that perhaps the citizens too could exercise and build pressure on elected representatives. After all, the system envisages that the lawmaker draws authority derived from people who vote for the representative. The people in turn should remain engaged with Parliamentarians and Legislators urging them to explore ways to come out of such situations. The contention that members in Parliament are bound by party dictates can be moulded and negotiated when opinion amplifies.
On a political plane it did allow members in the opposition consisting of parties of various persuasions stick together and also greater imagination in adopting new sites to stage protests within parliament precincts. It culminated with a march to Vijay Chowk holding national flags. The message the group sought to convey was that its voice was being muffled inside the Houses.
The grand demonstration of togetherness by combined Opposition should not be interpreted as green shoots of opposition unity in the electoral battle field. The sense of purpose that made these parties appear as a bloc would dissipate in states where the regional outfits are jostling for the same space as the Congress. These parties would not like to cede ground to the Congress. Visualising a combined opposition mounting a one-on-one challenge to the BJP in 2024 general elections is a chimera.
KV Prasad is a senior Delhi-based journalist. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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