In the Rajya Sabha on Sunday who were the ‘Badshahs’? The Government of course

The ruckus in the Rajya Sabha over the two Bills related to farmers on Sunday has been described as a blot on Parliamentary democracy by both the ruling party and the opposition. At least on that point there seems to be agreement between both the sides.

The Government has cited unruly scenes, opposition MPs rushing to the well of the House, a few of them allegedly breaking a microphone or two and at least one senior opposition member accused, falsely he says, of tearing the rule book.

The opposition on its part accuses the Deputy Chairman, who presided over the session, of calling for a voice vote when the opposition demanded a ‘Division’ or actual voting by paper slips, a show of hands or by electronic voting. The rule book says that even if a single MP asks for a division, it has to be allowed. Why was the rule not followed ?

With Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) having opposed the Bills and MP’s belonging to the Biju Janata Dal and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, also allies of the Government in the NDA, having spoken against the Bills, surely the Government cannot get away by saying that the opposition was misleading the House and the people ? Which way would these allies have voted is the question.

There are reasons to believe that these NDA allies wanted to have the cake and eat it too. They wanted to put up a token opposition in parliament by speaking out against the Bills. But they also did not want to stop the Bills from being passed. And that is why it seems a ‘Parliamentary Conspiracy’ was hatched to steal the approval of the Rajya Sabha. The Deputy Chairman facilitated the process and helped hide the fact that if the voting had taken place, the Government might well have fallen short of the numbers required.

What was wrong in opposition MP’s asking for the Bills to be sent to the Select Committee for scrutiny ? Especially since the Government in its wisdom had decided to issue ordinances, taking advantage of the pandemic and the lockdown, there were very good reasons for the Bills to be scrutinized. This was also necessary because the Government in its arrogance had not thought it necessary to consult the stakeholders. Wasn’t this the grievance of Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who resigned from the ministry ?

Farmers in Punjab and Haryana have been protesting against the ordinances since June, when they were promulgated. What was the tearing hurry and what was the emergency that the Government could not have waited for six more months of scrutiny? When the ordinances and now the Bills seek to dismantle a 70-year old system, what are six months? Is a truncated three-hour debate with restricted attendance, sitting arrangements etc. the best way forward? Surely this is no exaggeration when the opposition says that Parliamentary Democracy was once again stabbed in the back on Sunday? This Government has made bypassing Parliament a norm and Sunday merely provided a brazen and grotesque exhibition of the Government acting like a bully and, if you like, Badshah.

The Bills not just affect the farmers but also the autonomy of the states. How can the Centre interfere in an area that involves the states and without so much as ‘by your leave’? No consultations were held with the states it would appear and yet, the Centre chose to bulldoze the Bills through Parliament and cock a snook to the federal structure.

The ordinances were, ironically, opposed by organisations affiliated to the RSS as well. And the Government is yet to come up with a satisfactory explanation why on the one hand it allows market forces to determine prices of rice and wheat while on the other hand, it imposes a ban on the export of onions, allegedly because of Bihar elections. It has also not explained why the ordinances, now Bills, provide no regulation for corporate bodies trading in farm produce.

The problem with this Government is that it believes in acting first and do the thinking later. It believs it knows best. It believes criticism is anti-national and that it alone has the right to speak—allegedly because it has the mandate.

If they had the mandate, why didn’t it allow voting in the Rajya Sabha? Because that would have exposed the Government?

Sadly, the Government believes in winning by hook or by crook. It is Heads I win, tails you lose.

Who then is behaving like the Badshah?