Kumar Chellappan

Recent debates in the Lok Sabha, marked by factual blunders and misguided accusations, underscore the pressing need for well-prepared and knowledgeable representatives

 The saying parliament is the temple of democracy has become a cliché phrase. Still, it is heard across the world where democracy is in vogue. In India, even the Communists, Dravidians and even Maoists use this term despite their nationalist views. The functioning of a nation’s parliament symbolizes its civility. No doubt, the names of Benjamin Disraeli, who served twice as Prime Minister of Britain and William Gladstone, who had a 12-year term as Prime Minister (spread over four non-consecutive terms) are two names students of political science would never forget.

Disraeli was premier during 1868 and 1874-1880 and served as leader of the opposition. Gladstone was his contemporary and both were known for their tongue-in-the-cheek retorts. Though the verbal duels at times crossed all levels of parliamentary decorum, both the parties they headed (Conservatives and Labor Party) never had any issues with their style of exchange of words.

“If Gladstone fell into the Thames, that would be a misfortune. But if anyone pulled him out, that I suppose would be a calamity,” Disraeli reportedly told the Parliament once.

Similarly, Gladstone was named as GOM (Grand Old Man) of British politics and Disraeli said that GOM stood for God’s Only Mistake.

India, described as the world’s biggest democracy has its colourful past. The likes of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Mahavir Tyagi and Piloo Modi are some of the names that come to mind while thinking of the Indian parliament.

The debates and discussions featuring them remain eternal classics in the annals of the country’s parliamentary democracy. Those were the days when Television and live telecasting of proceedings of the House were unheard of. Not any more. The proceedings of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are being aired live by the LSTV and RSTV.

After watching the Lok Sabha debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address to the joint session of the Houses, what struck my mind was the scarcity of good leaders or speakers in the Opposition benches. K C Venugopal, as of date, the strongest leader in the Congress after the Gandhi clan, made a “bloomer” when he charged that the last ten years of Modi rule saw 2.5 lakh persons getting killed in train accidents across the country. Though Jagadambika Pal, a Congress turncoat occupying the chair asked him to check the facts, the Kerala Chanakya ( as KC is addressed by his followers) stood his ground and reiterated that more than 2.5 lakh had perished in train mishaps during the last ten years. A senior railway official had a hearty laugh when asked about the charge made by the Congress leader.

Many members of the Lok Sabha are not competent to occupy the treasury or opposition benches.  Thol Thirumavalavan, of the VCK, a Dalit outfit, blamed the Center for the recent hooch tragedy in Tamil Nadu’s Kallakurichi which claimed 63 innocent lives.

Had Thirumavalavan spent at least 15 minutes of his time reading the Constitution of India presented to him by Rahul Gandhi, he would not have made this blunder. The manufacture, distribution and sale of liquor is the exclusive prerogative of the State governments under the seventh schedule of the Constitution. When one comes to the House to deliver an important speech like thanking the president for the address to the joint session of both Houses, one has to do some homework.

Gumma Tanuja Rani, a tribal leader representing Araku constituency in Andhra Pradesh was a major relief. She spoke from the bottom of her heart about the inadequacies in the education system for tribals in her constituency. The absence of good teachers costs the tribal students quality education. India, which has dozens of communication satellites of its own could dedicate one or two transponders for educating the tribal teachers making use of the quality teachers available in the country. 

The words of representatives like Tanuja Rani should not be confined in the records of the House. The ministers of science and technology and human resources development should sit with the ISRO chairman and work out an action program to launch tribal schools through our satellites. Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, a Congress MP from Punjab, spoke about the eternal pain of farmers in his State as well as the rest of the country.

This is proof of how our ministers in charge of agriculture failed to resolve the hardship faced by the farming community.

Wherever one goes in India, the farmers wail over their difficulties in getting water for irrigation, bank loans and of course the lack of marketing facilities.

A research scholar may be able to get a PhD for his thesis on how the politicians succeed in keeping the farmers in perpetual poverty and how they are forced to resort to extreme steps. Period.

Discussing an inconsequential comment made by the Leader of the Opposition about Sanatan Dharma is a waste of time. The ruling party should understand that he has to make some statements to stay relevant. There are three kinds of people in the world, according to Shiv Khera, a management guru. Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened. Our LOP does not belong to the first two categories!

(The writer is a special correspondent with The Pioneer; views are personal)

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