Only three days back the President Pranab Mukherjee, while speaking to the Parliamentarians at a function of unveiling of photographs of eminent personalities had subtly expressed displeasure on irresponsible behaviour of some of our Parliamentarians while conducting formal business. He had called it Gangotri which, if polluted, would mean disaster for the entire political system in the country.
What has actually happened in connection with the Telangana bill proves the fears of the President. As Home Minister rose to place the bill for creation of separate Telangana State through an act of the Parliament, those opposing the it and Seemandhara MPs rose to their feet, trooped into the Well of the Lok Sabha, snatched and broke the mike, the glass on the table of the Speaker and then followed scuffle between the pro and anti Telangana bill. The grand finale of the ruckus was brought by an MP Rajagopal spraying pepper powder from a can he had brought with him. Three parliamentarians were dangerously affected by the spray and had to be removed to hospital. There were some others who felt choked and irritated in their eyes and had to withdraw. The Speaker was thus forced to adjourn the House.
The second phase of pandemonium appeared when Home Minister Shinde announced that the bill had been tabled. The entire opposition rose to protest against this claim saying that the bill had never been tabled. Sushma Swaraj, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, led a delegation of opposition representatives to meet with the Speaker asserting that the bill had not been tabled at all.
One can say with fair amount of certainty that the Government had not done proper homework before introducing the bill in the Parliament. The question of division of Andhra Pradesh and creation of Telangana as a separate State has been hanging fire for a long time. Political consensus was absent and as such there were many obstructions to the proposal. Above all, there is a strong lobby of Seemandhara MPs and their sympathisers who oppose the bifurcation of the state. Naturally, in view of such fierce opposition the Government should have done more homework to build consensus so that the Parliament would not be reduced to a fish market. The Speaker was so much disgusted as to call it a blot on Indian democracy.
Democracy does not mean asserting one’s will even if it is right. Democracy is the art of carrying the opposition with you without coercion and with gentle persuasion. Was that art pressed into service by the ruling coalition before it decided to bring in the bill? Obviously not. The Government should have sensed the heightened tempers and the consequences likely to follow.
The act of creating unruly scenes in the House, breaking the mike and resorting to lawlessness and above all one member having the audacity of spraying pepper powder into the eyes of his opposition colleagues is reprehensible and condemnable. It has shamed the entire democratic system of the country. As such the Speaker did well to use her powers and suspended 18 MPs alleged to have indulged in the mayhem. This is too small a punishment. What we need is exemplary punishment which will serve the MPs for all times. They should be banned from fighting election either to the Parliament/Assembly. This country cannot afford to be held hostage to the whims and vagaries of wayward members of the Parliament. It is now and here that the rule of law and the power of democracy must exert authority and reinstate the sanctity and supremacy of the Parliament. We have very laboriously established the reputation of our parliamentary system and we cannot afford to see it demolished by a few senseless and obstinate members. The nation has to prove thet it is bigger than the issue of reorganisation of one or the other state. Reorganization of States is authorised by the Constitution and in the past this provision has been adopted in reorganizing and creating new sates. Telangana cannot be an exception.
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