​Assembly, Parliament Proceedings: A Time For All To Introspect

Kommineni Srinivasa Rao

The recent ruckus that was created in Telangana assembly was undoubtedly deplorable. While the Congress MLAs tried to disrupt the Governor's address, as a reaction to it two of their MLAs Komatireddi Venkat Reddy and Sampath were expelled, and even senior Congress leader Jana Reddy was suspended from the Legislative assembly. No doubt what Komatireddi and other Congress members did was not right, but do they deserve such severe punishment? When questioned about Jana Reddy's suspension and also while pointing out the TRS MPs' inappropriate behaviour in the Parliament, Kishan Reddy had to face the wrath of the chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, which was also unwarranted.

KCR had said he would not tolerate violent behaviour in the assembly, but his reaction shows that he is being impatient. Without even listening to the opposition, he went ahead with the expulsion and suspension of Congress MLAs. Earlier too when such incidents happened, there was a debate held before taking any decision, but now there was nothing of that sort. In this context we need to point out that autocracy is not good for democratic politics. It has become a common practice for political parties to behave differently when in power, in contrast to how they act when not in power. This is not the case with Telangana alone-- we are witnessing this trend across the country.

Today the impression is that opposition is only meant to create ruckus. We have to give credit to the ruling party also for this because they instigate others to react. Recently we saw in Jammu Kashmir assembly, the MLAs of ruling and opposition parties getting into a fight, while in some other state they tried to push one another and get on to the Speaker's podium.

In Telangana assembly, it was unfortunate that Komatireddi threw the head phone, which first hit a wall hanging and later Legislative Assembly Chairman Swamy Goud's eye. Such acts should not be encouraged. But why is there so much of intolerance? Maybe it is to get noticed among the public as well as to get media attention. On other hand, Congress MLAs allege that the government used police force to attack them in the assembly. They also state that Swamy Goud was not hurt. They questioned: was it correct on the part of TRS MPs to walk towards Speaker's podium in Parliament and protest. This explains the double standards of political parties.

The Telangana assembly episode happened during Governor Narasimhan's address. This is not something that is out of the blue for the Governor. During the Telangana agitation time when Congress was ruling the state, Harish Rao, who at present is a state minister, Revanth Reddy and Nagam Janardhan Reddy virtually attacked the podium. In fact Harish Rao was suspended. This is also similar to what Congress did recently. Both are unpardonable mistakes.

The entire episode only proves that the Congress lacks any strategy or plan. To raise the issue of farmers' suicide one doesn't need to throw head phones. There are many peaceful ways to protest--they could have sported black badges or could have taken the route of BJP which announced that it would boycott Governor's address.

In Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress Party Chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy made it very clear that until the MLAs who have changed parties are suspended he will not attend the assembly sessions. By saying so he has put the government in a spot. This is sort of strategy which should be adopted. His statement attracted the country's attention and also made CM Chandrababu rethink on further horse-trading of MLAs. And this is the reason TDP didn't contest for the third Rajya Sabha seat.

The Congress party in Telangana couldn't do a similar thing. The party's chief whip approached the Supreme Court with regard to MLAs changing parties, but they couldn't create any impact in the assembly. It has to be said that the Congress is failing to draw up a strategy to counter such undemocratic practices. Moreover, they have not made Revanth Reddy to resign as MLA, who shifted from TDP to Congress, which only means that it is also involved in undemocratic practices.

Earlier in united Andhra Pradesh, Congress leader Jeevan Reddy threw papers related to the Governor's speech in the assembly. This issue was taken seriously and was referred to the Ethics committee. During that time it was decided that any member who walks into the assembly well would automatically be suspended... but these rules were never implemented.

The scene is very much similar in Parliament as well. The reason could be the ruling party's inefficiency. Opposition parties claim that the ruling party is biased and does not behave responsibly, and hence, they were forced to react. While this could be true, what is the main issue that will put the government in a spot of bother? There should be clarity on this.

There were times when the ruling party leaders paid due attention to the criticism of the opposition leaders. On the contrary, today the ruling party has become intolerant and impatient. Everyone has to accept the fact that in a democracy, both ruling and opposition parties have equal importance.

The fact is that such incidents in assembly or Parliament only send wrong messages to the people. Similarly, it is not right to for the house to function without opposition party.