RIGHT APPEAL
| Date :18-Jun-2019 |
PRIME Minister Mr. Narendra Modi’s invitation to all political parties to work together to make the first post-election session of Parliament successful with “fresh zeal and new thinking”, has its own importance. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Mr. Pralhad Joshi highlighted the appeal by stating that the Government’s effort was to create a sense of togetherness on issues of universal importance. If such an atmosphere could be created, it would help in strengthening the process of parliamentary democracy. Media reports have us believe that the Congress party has maintained that it is engaged in an ideological fight with the Bharatiya Janata Party and would pursue its agenda.
Frankly speaking, there should be no problem about this since the Modi Government has often welcomed dialogue on all issues of national importance. It will be a misfortune if the Congress keeps up its obstinacy on issues and does not maintain the spirit of a healthy, bi-partisan discourse. It is against this possibility that the Prime Minister wishes to push the idea of working together on important issues. The recent elections have proved that the voters have supported National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in an overwhelming manner, proving Opposition claims of better showing wrong. In such a situation, it would be in the best interest of the country that an atmosphere of healthy acceptance of the political reality is created so that important issues get sorted out in right earnest. In the last five years, a lot of time and energy were wasted due to obstinate approach of the Opposition parties to parliamentary business.
Many legislations got stalled and lapsed just because they were not allowed to surface in the parliamentary agenda. Despite the Government’s appeals of sanity, the Opposition parties continued their resistance to many a legislation particularly in the Rajya Sabha, thus stalling an otherwise easy flow of business in the Upper House. It was because of such an approach that the nation missed the bus on many an issue and the process of progress got delayed. The Prime Minister has, therefore, appealed to all political parties not to resort to such an approach in the next five years so that the people’s issues get sorted out as quickly as possible. The core thought of democracy operates through the political process that flows smoothly once the elections are over. When the voters have given a near-one-sided mandate to the Government, then the Opposition parties, too, should accept the reality ungrudgingly and work with the Government beyond the thought of petty political gains or losses.
In the long run, such an approach would help in furthering people’s causes like nothing would ever do. In the process, even the Opposition parties would stand to gain on popular front as they would be able to tell the people what they have done to make things easy in larger interest. Everything will depend upon how the Opposition looks at these issues and how much large-heartedness and maturity it shows while considering national issues. In a mature democracy, the Opposition can play a stellar role in pushing people’s causes. A man of eminence such as Abraham Lincoln was right when he defined Democracy as a system of the people, by the people and for the people. When people choose a party over the other, the party that loses the bid must accept the verdict unreservedly and cooperate with the winner party. In the past seventy-plus years, India has matured as a democracy. The actual success of the system, however, will depend upon how the Opposition conducts itself. It will be in the best interest of the country that the Opposition extends a healthy cooperation with the Government and makes the great democratic experiment highly successful. That is in the best national interest.