Our Party Doesnt have the Numbers
The conundrum is whether alliance partners supporting the government would like to go to the 2014 polls with the burden of the floundered performances of the Congress party.UPA-II stands rattled year after year with corruption charges: Commonwealth Games,Adarsh housing scam,Aircel-Maxis deal,2G and the recent Coalgate.The PM is outrightly responsible for failure to rein in whopping prices,a yawning fall in industrial production,with GDP stuttering and limping at 5.6% and much more.
When Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev occupied anti-corruption centrestage,the BJP was charged with abdicating the political space and heading for redundancy.The PM,who had given a clean chit to Raja,is now giving himself a clean chit and expects the BJP to fall in line.The PM has resorted to use his mute image as a listless defence against charges of corruption.
Momentarily, even if we ignore the CAG report which the government prefers to bunk shunning its constitutional validity,how does one explain the CVC,a constitutional body,again referring allegations in the Coalgate to the CBI to investigate the allocation of mines during 2005-09,the tenure when the PM was the coal minister How does one ensure an impartial investigation with the PM in the chair?
It is hard to fathom the rationale for political parties that are pressing for a debate knowing well that the government has repeatedly sought refuge under parliamentary cover.The Congress party has pitched for a mechanism to legitimise monumental corruption through parliamentary debates.
Obviously,the BJP does not possess the numbers and a no-confidence motion will fall,giving another legitimate tenure to the PM.For the BJP,it is no more a concern of numbers but of preserving the dignity of the parliamentary forums that is increasingly usurped by numbers.
Battle lines have been drawn for those who desire to stand for corruption and against it.A no-confidence motion is an acclaimed technical parliamentary procedure,but for a bystander,it will be a de facto no-confidence motion against the government that the determined Opposition has to take to a conclusive end.
The BJP should respect Parliament
Whether the principal Opposition party,the BJP,should move a no-confidence motion is its decision. It has the option. However, disruption of Parliament must end and there should be a debate on the coal-mine allocation scam and important issues such as drought, Assam killings, communal tension, worsening economic situation, unrest among the working sections and so on.
The Prime Ministers statement on the CAG report on coal block allotments is disappointing.We reject his weak defence.Also,the PM has become vulnerable as the UPA-II is being continuously exposed with several cases of corruption and allegations.These charges have damaged the image of the Congress,UPA-II and the PM.The ruling Congress party may dispute the CAG report,as was done by the BJP government earlier.But people in the country believe that something has gone wrong and corruption is rampant.
Why did the government not act on its own proposed policy of 2004 to allot coal blocks via bidding The PM agrees that allotment without bidding has not improved the supply side and the power situation has become worse.This is because of pro-corporate policies.
All these have to be exposed during the debate in the House. Disruption for such a long time is impermissible and unpardonable. It is only helping the Congress party and its leaders are sitting pretty without being made a target before the people. This looks more like match-fixing between the BJP and the Congress Party to save the main culprits : corporate houses. BJP may question the option of a debate as the Congress and UPA-II both have a majority in the House. But a healthy debate will put the government on the backfoot. Further, a no confidence motion and a debate will provide ample opportunity to expose the Congress party.
The BJP is also accountable to people and the nation. One party cannot dictate whether Parliament should function.It may think that mid-term polls at this juncture may provide them an electoral opportunity against the backdrop of communal tensions. Political ambitions of a single party cannot change the agenda of the nation. The party should, therefore, respect democracy and Parliament.