Better for BJP if it lets govt pass difficult bills: Gupta

Our political cast, however angry or cynical, is not that silly to block the Finance Bill, says Shekhar Gupta, Editor-In-Chief, The Indian Express.

“If the BJP thinks that it is going to win the next elections then it will be useful for them to get some of these difficult bills passed instead of having to go again to Congress party to pass them,” he told CNBC-TV18. Below is the verbatim transcript of his interview to CNBC-TV18. Q: Will any useful business get done at all? Will at least the finance bill get passed; I guess that at least will not be threatened by all the noise? A: Certainly. I don’t see any chance the Finance Bill not being passed. However angry or cynical our political cast maybe they are not silly to block a finance bill. In fact, if one was a member even when the government had fallen, Chidambaram’s Budget was yet to be passed. Even as the government had fallen the same parliament had passed that Budget. I do believe the Budget will be passed but I am still hoping that after this initial noise and anger in the first half of this Budget session some business will get transacted. There are elements both within the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who thinks that it is wrong for both parties to start electioneering right now. Frankly, if the BJP thinks that it is going to win the next elections then it will be useful for them to get some of these difficult bills passed instead of having to go again to Congress party to pass them. I find a little bit of a contradiction in the BJPs stance. On one hand they presume they have come to power in the next election and on the other, they behave like they are fated to be in opposition for ever. They should just be obstructionist. They are not behaving like party, which is on the verge of getting power. Parties tend to a bit more generous and bit more forward looking, but their behavior right now is not forward looking. Their behavior right now is bitter and angry. It is to try and block everything and try to punish the current government and parliament. The people of India for what they see as issues on which they can harass the government. The government is embarrassed enough and you can embarrass them in parliament, you can embarrass them outside. They have to think about how many parliament sessions they have written off. They wrote off whole parliament session demand a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) for example in 2G. What are they getting with that JPC? I am not saying that what has happened with JPC is right, but that is precisely what you had expected to get. Q: On this Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) since you have touched upon it, there is a meeting today – do you expect a vote on this controversial draft report and how long do you think it is going to drag on? A: I don’t know whether there will be a vote or how this will drag on, but this JPC report is disgraceful. The whole JPC process has also been disgraceful, but that is precisely how JPC of Indian parliament has been for decades now. Most parliamentary committees see to be nonpartisan. This is in many ways broken parliament. Major political parties don’t operate as their parliamentarians and in these committees as parliamentarians. Particularly senior parliamentarians should do. They remain partisan. Given that one did not expect much better but Raja not been allowed to appear in JPC. Things like that are even more ridiculous than what you have seen in the past. The fact is when you have broken politics then standards keep on getting lower and lower as time passes. Q: The story that your paper has chased very rigorously, the Ashwini Kumar episode. Do you think that could have an exclusive impact? So, in this case if a PMO official is involved do you think that would be very explosive and could put a seal on any positive business in terms of any other key bills? A: It all depends on how much truth the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) tells. In fact, it depends on whether the CBI tells the truth or not. If it tells the truth how much truth does it tell. If it tells the full truth, it will create a big problem for the ruling party and the government. There is a way out of that, which is to sacrifice the law minister. I think opposition will then see that as a sufficient gain and a saver. I don’t believe that anybody in the Congress Party will be deeply regretful because the law minister is not political heavyweight. What has been done is entirely wrong and totally in defensive. One should see how nobody in the Congress party, nobody in the UPA is coming out to defend what happened. They are only trying to say – oh the impact of what has happened is being exaggerated. He did not try to interfere, he did not try to change anything substantive. So, this is a problem, crisis out of which there is a solution. It is the other one 2G, which don’t seem to have solution although we need to see the final report of JPC. I am a little optimistic in these situations. I also know that there are many matured politicians on both sides. I am still hoping that some business might get done towards the end of this session as has often been the case. Sometimes, certain bills get moved or they get passed particularly the non- contentious one. The problem with this case is many of the economic bills, will be contentious for the parties. For example, for the Left and some parties may demand voting. Little bit of floor coordination and talking is required but once again we need to remind the BJP that 26 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) insurance came. They were able to amend the law with the help of the congress party and there was a particular day when not enough ruling party members were present in parliament. The opposition had not cooperated effectively if the bill was voted. The government may have fallen, but Congress and BJP cooperated. Many of the same people were talking at that time. Manmohan singh was the leader of the opposition in the upper house and Pranab Mukherjee was there. So, these are senior grown-up people. They have to put bitterness aside say look we will keep fighting our political battle.  BJP believes will come to power very soon or whenever the next election happens. When they come to power do they then want to start their agenda carrying over this pending business from the pervious government? It is much better to finish it now so you can invest your own political capital in the new things that you might be planning. That is if the BJP thinks it is coming to power, if it thinks it is not coming to power then they can be as destructive and as obstructive as they wish to be.