‘lakshman rekha’

 

RIGHT on his first day at work, the new Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Mr. C.P. Radhakrishnan, showed his mettle by firmly asking the Members not to cross what he called “Lakshman Rekha” of decency and decorum of the House. His message was loud and clear -- and delivered in a restrained manner that demonstrated the dignity he has brought to the august office he holds -- that he would tolerate no nonsense and every Member of Parliament must follow the norms that include rules and conventions. Mr. Radhakrishnan did thank the Members for the encomiums they showered on him, especially Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi (for bringing to light many unknown aspects of his life). As the new Chairman made known his approach to the business of the House, the Members -- and the nation -- realised that they would be dealing with a man of unwavering faith in parliamentary democracy with whose dignity he would entertain no compromise.

 

Right on the first day, thus, he drew the proverbial “Lakshman Rekha”. The concept of “Lakshman Rekha” might have been verbalised by the new Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, all right. Yet, it needs to be made applicable to the entire membership of the Lok Sabha as well -- so that India’s highest parliamentary forum attains higher levels of refinement over time. This reminder is necessary only because of the continued belligerence of the Opposition benches to defy norms of decency and decorum of both the Houses of Parliament and habitually create hurdles in the transaction of business. Even as the Parliament assembled for the current brief winter session of just 15 days, the Opposition appeared determined to block the business in both the Houses raising the issue of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls now going on in different parts of the country -- of course by raising senseless points that have already been answered not just by the Election Commission of India and even the honourable Supreme Court. In the past as well, the Opposition had raised issues similarly and blocked the proceedings of the two Houses.

 

The Opposition’s collective conduct was so rude that the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha had held press conferences to explain to the media -- and through it the larger nation -- their exasperation. In the current session, too, the Opposition appeared all set to repeat a similar approach. Having known all this from the distance, Mr. C.P. Radhakrishnan chose to remind the Rajya Sabha (and vicariously also the Lok Sabha) members that there was a “Lakshman Rekha” that was inviolable. His word of caution is of immense importance. Before the start of the winter session, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi talked to the media and expected that the Opposition would not treat the Parliament as a ground to express their sense of frustration of out electoral defeat and not use the Houses as a place to play out political drama and block the proceedings.

 

The Opposition picked the word ‘drama’ from the Prime Minister’s statement and tried to create a lot of noise outside the Houses. Though such noises make no sense, they nevertheless demonstrated the hidden agenda of the Opposition to keep disturbing the proceedings. That would be very unfortunate. The common people of the country have by now understood how irresponsible the Opposition camp has been for the past so many years. In their own way, the common people have rebuffed the Opposition by handing it down with stunning defeats in election after election. However, the Opposition has refused to acknowledge this reality on the ground. That explains its continued belligerence on the floor of the Houses of Parliament. The Rajya Sabha Chairman’s reminder of “Lakshman Rekha” may not have appropriate effect on the Opposition. Ultimately, that task of making it realise its limitation may have to wait until next elections when the Opposition deducts more numbers from its strength.