Letters: Parliamentarians' probity?

This refers to the report “Retail FDI victory fuels govt reforms push” (December 8). Beyond the questions of merits and demerits of foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, and who won or lost, the recent debate in Parliament has raised a larger question of the probity of parliamentarians. Parliament is the highest forum of expression of the people’s will through their elected representatives, who have the obligation of carrying the will of the majority. In this case, though the will of the majority was against retail FDI, it was not carried because of opportunistic parties, such as Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Although these parties had earlier participated in Bharat bandhs against the issue, during the voting in the House, they either abstained or voted in favour of the government’s order allowing retail FDI to be cleared. They did so under their usual cover of “keeping the communal forces (meaning BJP) out of power”, though the government was not going to fall if defeated on the issue. Thus, these parties not only betrayed their constitutional obligation but also their constituency.

Moreover, BSP chief Mayawati’s U-turn in the Rajya Sabha is nothing new for our politicians. One must not forget that as Uttar Pradesh chief minister, she didn’t allow Reliance’s multi-brand retail trade in the state. In fact, political vandalism had forced the company to close its retail centres.

M C Joshi, Lucknow

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