“This year marks the centenary year of Champaran Satyagraha, which gave a new direction to our Freedom Struggle and channelised janashakti in the fight against colonial power. Mahatma Gandhi”s ideals of Satyagraha instilled in every Indian an indomitable self-belief, and spirit of sacrifice for the larger good. This janashakti is today our greatest strength.”
—Shri Pranab Mukherjee in his Presidential Address to the Joint Session of the Parliament on January 31, 2017
Walkouts and disruptions are not new to the Parliament of Bharat and it is an effective tool for the Opposition to register the protest. But the reason for which the Congress Party decided to boycott Prime Minister’s reply to the debate on motion of thanks to President’s address in the Rajya Sabha on February 8 is worth scrutinising. Taking a dig at the former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, PM Modi said, ‘art of taking bath wearing raincoat can be learnt from him’. In a way he highlighted the central role of Dr Singh in key financial decision making for more than 30 years that were marked by various scams, estimated to be from 5 lac to 13 lac crores. He managed to remain clean in this mud of corruption was in a way compliment to the scholarly economist like Dr Manmohan Singh. Then why Congress took it as an insult and decided to boycott the proceedings.
If we analyse, Prime Minister’s reply to the debate on President’s Address, it is clear that he wanted to give a clear message to the Opposition and people at large about his priorities and commitments. He had already done that in the Lok Sabha. Last Session was washed out, even though Prime Minister wanted to give a reply on the daring decision of demonetisation. When the debate was initiated in the Rajya Sabha, someone like the stature of Dr Manmohan Singh called it a ‘monumental management failure’ and ‘a case of organised loot and legalised plunder’. One can always critically evaluate the decision and subsequent
implementation but calling demonetisation a ‘plunder’ was a ‘blunder’ and not in tune with his stature. If he made the
non-substantiated sweeping allegation, he would be given a back was expected.
If the question of dignity of office of Prime Minister is concerned, then Congress is the last party to talk about it. When Dr Manmohan Singh was the PM, the ordinance cleared by his Cabinet was torn in a press conference by none other than the Congress Vice-President. When the surgical strike took place, the derogatory remark that the present PM is playing Khoon Ki Dalali (politics over blood of soldiers) was more than an insult to the PM, as it involved the sacrifices of the soldiers and security of the nation. If it has to do with the decorum of the floor of the Parliament, as many Congress leaders have been arguing, then the leader of main Opposition saying that, Gandhi family sacrificed lives for the country; ‘Not a single dog came from your family’, was definitely not for maintaining the dignity of the Parliament.
The real pain lies somewhere else. The mindset that we are the only saviours of democracy and we only fought for the Independence is the Congress’ biggest misappropriation. They forget the fact that many others also fought for Independence under the banner of Congress and other platforms. The only difference is that the then Congress was not the family fiefdom. Secondly, it is the same Congress under the leadership of Ms Indira Gandhi which gave biggest dent to the democracy, which was restored only after the massive manifestation of people’s power under the leadership of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan and RSS Sarsanghachalak Balasaheb Deoras.Most important, indirectly saying that Dr Manmohan Singh remained clean, PM Modi hinted that the epicentre of corruption lies somewhere else, which Congressmen could not digest.
If the decorum of democracy is to be maintained then it is a collective responsibility. For that the biggest prerequisite is respecting people’s power. Everyone can talk on
individual’s or policies but none has right to underestimate or denigrate people’s mandate. Earlier Congress learns the message of 2014 verdict the better for the grand old party and the nation. @PrafullaKetkar
