Houses divided

Continuing to disrupt Parliament is dangerous

More than a week into the monsoon session of Parliament, the Opposition shows no signs of relenting, and continues to make the normal functioning of India's legislature impossible. This is irresponsible and short-sighted; it is time for the disrupting parties, particularly the Congress, to work out a sensible exit strategy from their unsustainable maximalist position. Continued disruption of this nature does not just harm the economy and the Congress' reputation; it is dangerous for the future of parliamentary democracy.

The Opposition's basic demand is that three leaders of the ruling party accused of involvement in various scandals - but, in particular, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj - step down. Only then will it permit the working of Parliament, its leaders insist. The government has signalled its willingness to have a debate, in which Ms Swaraj can present her point of view, and during which the Opposition can pin down her errors and evasions, if any. However, the Opposition refuses to let this debate take place. This violates principles of natural justice; to ask that Ms Swaraj be fired before she has made her case to her fellow parliamentarians does not seem right or fair. Meanwhile, the Congress points out that the Bharatiya Janata Party or the BJP, when in Opposition, behaved much like the Congress did, stopping Parliament from functioning. However, the Congress may be making a mistake if it imagines public memory is long, and if it will be able to claim public sympathy on the back of pointing out hypocrisy on the part of the BJP.

The deeper danger is that this refusal to let India's highest deliberative and representative body function will help reduce confidence, already fragile, in the nature of India's parliamentary democracy. More and more people could start seeing Parliament as an ineffective institution rather than as a body for lawmaking, oversight and discussion. The consequences of such a change in perception of Parliament's role could be extremely problematic. It would undermine confidence in the basic processes and efficacy of democracy itself. More, it could lay the door open for general popular support for draconian measures against members of Parliament of the sort never used at the Centre before. In many state governments, opposition legislators are suspended as a matter of course. For instance, in Gujarat, important legislation, such as the Gujarat Lokayukta law, was passed with almost the entire Opposition removed - and only Keshubhai Patel sitting in splendid isolation on the Opposition benches. The Congress and its fellow Opposition parties could well be under a wrong impression that Parliament is somehow immune to such measures. Indeed, by its intransigence and irresponsibility - increasingly unpopular - the Congress is creating exactly the condition for a sharp reaction and mass suspensions to be a politically popular response. This would be a blow from which parliamentary institutions would struggle to recover.

The oddest part about the problem is this: the BJP-led government does not have the numbers all its own way. Yes, it has a majority in the Lok Sabha. But the Rajya Sabha can effectively slow or block legislation. So why is the Congress disrespecting the will of the people by not allowing the lower House to function - when it can, with complete Constitutional propriety, create hold-ups in the upper House? The Congress must correct its dangerous course, before it is too late.