The next General Election to constitute the fresh Parliament is round the corner and the entire country is dancing to the tunes of the cacophony of the high pitched electoral campaigns of all stakeholders. Every political party is trumpeting its real or claimed achievements and leading the gullible electorae to the garden- path by assuring to bring the moon. This common scenario since the first national franchise in 1952, continues unabated as the voters ignore to chastise their elected representatives to behave in the House.
As a result of this loose rope, the MPs have started going berserk whether participating in an important debate or contacting their voters in the field. On March 8, 2014 I saw a detailed report in a Hindi daily of Delhi on lost hours of the outgoing Parliament and mind boggling figures of monetary loss to the public exchequer. These figures can cause a deep concern to any responsible citizen but the legislators care a fig for that. Still they will appreciate parliament’s supremacy and contest election to return to the House to continue their hooliganism.
Occasional disturbances in the proceedings on highly disputed issues are not uncommon in any democracy. But the consecutive stoppage of proceedings through uproarious scenes, hamstringing the functioning, is something very deplorable and unfortunately it has become a common and regular handiwork of the opposition. For this sad scene, it would be wrong to name a particular political party. None has a record of eschewing this undemocratic weopon to harass the Govt. It all started during the Vajpayi regime when the Congress made scenes in the well of the House or just staged walk-outs when the then Defence Minister, George Fernandes rose to address. This continued for a long period, causing problems for the managers of the floor management. Stung by that, the main opposition(BJP) has been paying the congress in the same coin in the present House. As a result, the nation, ultimately suffers.
This trend does not augur well for the biggest democracy of the world. Added failures on the law and order front , people reasonably doubt, India is heading to a banana republic. Our hard won freedom is in jeopardy at the hands of dishonest and irresponsible politicians. None else, only the voters can teach them a right lesson. When any candidate approaches them for vote, they should force him to take a vow not to disturb the proceedings of the temple of democracy and highlight their arguments only through participation in healthy debates. Personally I am sad that no such demand has surfaced so far. It is my humble request to every voter to pressurize their representatives to behave as a real democrat in the Lok Sabha and for that matter in the Upper House as well.
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