The Union government is entirely correct to say that the opposition political parties cannot hold Parliament to ransom to force the government to accept its terms in the current stand-off on an enquiry into the so-called telecom scam. In a parliamentary democracy, the government of the day must either be allowed to function by Parliament or be voted out by it. If the opposition political parties have the numbers to press their opinion on the government, the right thing for them to do would be to get Parliament to express a vote of no-confidence against the government. Let Parliament function according to its norms. If the Opposition does not have the numbers to get its viewpoint accepted, then it must accept the ruling coalition’s viewpoint or seek a compromise. The Union government has gone out of its way to offer a variety of compromise solutions. It is not clear, however, why the opposition political parties should reject the government’s original proposal that the telecom licences and spectrum allocation issue, and the views expressed on it by the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India be discussed by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament. After all, the PAC is chaired by a senior leader of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, Murli Manohar Joshi. The Opposition’s demand that a Joint Parliamentary Committee be constituted and asked to probe the matter was an understandable demand to make as a starting point of a negotiation, but it cannot reasonably expect the government to accept every last element of its demands.
It is a matter of great dismay that Parliament has not been allowed to function for more than 10 days now and continues to be disrupted. The opposition parties have as much responsibility as the ruling coalition to ensure that Parliament functions and does its job. By not allowing Parliament to function, the Opposition is denying the people of India an opportunity to have their voice heard on the many important issues of the day. Telecom, Commonwealth Games and other scams as well as a host of other issues engaging the people of India deserve to be discussed in Parliament. This continuous disruption serves no purpose other than to generate even greater cynicism among people about the effectiveness of democratic institutions in addressing the real needs of the people. Having disrupted Parliament so cynically, how can the opposition parties then question the likes of India’s Maoists and the so-called “splittists” when they attack the very foundations of Indian democracy and the republic? This deadlock must end. The government has come forward with several reasonable compromise formulas and the Opposition has a wide menu of options to choose from. The ball is now in the Opposition’s court. It must take the initiative to get Parliament to resume its normal work by accepting one of the many compromise formulas on offer. The mood of political uncertainty gripping the nation will do immense harm. It must be brought to an end.
