ON with the show!

On with the show!

A lot got done amidst the high drama of July 21st and 22nd besides the government winning the Trust Vote with a 19 vote lead and ten abstentions. There was most useful cross-voting from individuals from a clutch of Opposition parties, and it may be a short time before the cross-voters are drawn firmly into the UPA fold.

The lines of competence have been drawn for the general election coming up, and it seems clear that the Opposition is at a considerable disadvantage.

Nevertheless, it is hard to feel sorry for the Opposition. Not only is the UNPA composed of a jerry-built raft of the oddest lots of the political pantheon; including the detritus of lost political battles; but they are probably the worst behaved parliamentarians encountered so far.

Their fellow travellers in this instance, the NDA, look dispirited and hapless, and distinctly uncomfortable for having got into bed with a number of very unsavoury playmates. But perhaps in this era of coalition politics there is little choice.

There was much money doing the rounds, reportedly. But irrespective of the enquiries and prosecutions that may yet ensue, it seems hypocritical to be shocked to learn that public life has its corrupt moments! And to put it on television hardly represents any grand departure from the past, except for some pointless titillation.

But perhaps a few new steps do need to be taken. It seems no longer easy to take revolvers into parliament, at least one hopes so; but easy enough to spirit suitcases full of cash in. Perhaps the Watch and Ward Staff is unable to muster up the courage to stop “immune” MPs. It may therefore be time for a circular to go out from the Parliamentary Affairs Minister banning the entry of cash into parliament except for what a parliamentarian can carry in a wallet. That’s wallet, in the singular, as in one wallet per MP.

Parliament also badly needs to put in a new, high-tech sound management system, with sufficient acoustic insulation built into every part of the House, so that it makes all hecklers and interrupters inaudible, or nearly so, unless they speak into mikes. And the Speaker should have the button to cut off said mikes whenever necessary.

It is evident, of late, that opposition to anything is tantamount to shouting down anyone that is targeted. Persuasion from the Speaker of the House falls routinely on deaf ears despite the yelling he is forced to resort to. So, if one wants to, the technological solution is certainly at hand.

As for the Well of the House, and the propensity for parliamentarians rushing into it to hold impromptu dharnas, accompanied usually with sufficient slogan-shouting to paralyse all other activity; perhaps the answer is small-charge-shock-mines, embedded into the floor, acting in a manner similar to cattle-prods. Again, a button at the Speaker’s desk should prevent the parliamentary staff from receiving electric shocks as they go about their business. I am sure Westminster does not need such arrangements; but we are a younger democracy, and we certainly do.

Similar arrangements, like the Delhi Metro, moving to build Metro systems elsewhere, can then be spread to the State Assemblies, where legislators routinely throw furniture and fittings at each other as well, before rushing over to indulge in fisticuffs, and may call, therefore, for additional features.

The Trust Vote success, earned with commendable, if strenuous effort, by the government, does offer the ruling UPA a great chance to set a number of things to rights before calling for the general elections on schedule next year.

The Indo-US Nuclear Deal is going to happen, and happen without domestic interference now. This presents unprecedented new opportunities to India Inc., running into billions of US dollars, and the capital goods and power infrastructure companies have already begun to rally sharply on the stock markets in anticipation.

The Finance Minister is talking of developing consensus on a number of financial bills pending parliamentary approval but since most of these need only a simple majority, like the Trust Vote, and not a two-thirds majority, required generally for constitutional amendments, there is no need to regard Mr. Chidambaram‘s remarks as any more than politeness. Or perhaps, we need to see it as a face-saver for those elements of the Left that no longer wish to follow Mr. Karat’s amateurish directions.

Some social reform bills, such as the Women’s Reservation Bill, do however pose problems, with elements in the ruling UPA constrained by their vote banks, and will probably have to be kept in abeyance for the time being.

But, if the SP can find a way to withhold objections to it, adding daring to boldness, it may have the side effect of curbing the profusion of criminal elements in parliament with as many as 50 MPs facing grievous charges such as murder and over a hundred up on lesser charges such as rioting, arson and the like. Women, after all, are widely thought to be the more law abiding of the sexes.

But the greatest thing in favour of business and industry is the fact that the elements that now constitute the UPA are decidedly reformist and business friendly. This can only throw up new opportunities for the prime minister, an eminent economist himself, as well as the duo in the finance and commerce ministries.

We should also get on with drawing closer to the United States and Israel in defence and high technology areas. This will not only give us the best from the best, but paradoxically make Russia, the Arabs and others that we interact with, for oil, gas, trade and defence supplies, far more reasonable. It is a truism that negotiating from a position of strength makes all the difference.

We can also henceforth expect to be less frequently threatened by China with regard to Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh and even Sikkim! As for Pakistan, we can be fairly sure that this is when they begin to give up the ghost with regard to their rivalry with India.

Perhaps, at long last, the contours of India as a future superpower are indeed possible to discern after this historic vote. And a special vote of thanks needs to go out to Speaker Somnath Chatterjee for upholding the highest standards of parliamentary procedure and wrestling the rambunctious assembly to an orderly outcome.


(1,050 words)

Gautam Mukherjee
July 23rd, 2008