SUCH a “Substantive Motion” was waiting in the wings to come up against Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Mr. Rahul Gandhi -- seeking termination of his membership of Parliament. It would have been a real surprise if such a motion were not to be taken up by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). For long, Mr. Rahul Gandhi had been daring the Government with his ugly statements and unholy diatribes. For long, he had been flouting norms and conventions of Parliament. For long, he had been defying logic and a sense of proportion and balance -- that are expected of any Member of Parliament, and more so when he/she is the Leader of Opposition (which is a constitutional position). With all this piling up against him, it was only natural for somebody in the Lok Sabha (of which Mr. Rahul Gandhi is a member) to bring up the “substantive motion” against him. Now, Mr. Gandhi will have to defend his wrong-doings -- and get all the more embroiled in the cobwebs of his own making. Rumours were doing the rounds that the BJP would move a Breach of Privilege Motion against Mr. Rahul Gandhi. The ruling party now appears to have given up that idea -- in favour of substantive motion that, if passed, would deprive Mr. Rahul Gandhi his Membership of the Lok Sabha.

 

He may even be debarred from contesting parliamentary elections for life. And if that happens, then national politics will assume an altogether different direction, an altogether different colour. For, that point would mean that the Congress party would near its end sooner than expected. The prospects, thus, are quite dangerous for the Congress party in general and the Gandhi family in particular. True, the Gandhi family -- and especially Mr. Rahul Gandhi -- is least likely to learn the right lessons. For, it is not its tradition to learn right lessons from life and mend its ways. So, even when countless well-wishers were advising Mr. Rahul Gandhi to change his approach to his rights and duties as a leader of Opposition camp, and as a Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha -- let alone his loyalty to the century-plus old Congress tradition. This is really unfortunate. For, over the past one decade and a little more, Mr. Rahul Gandhi has defied the universal code of common sense of good conduct at all places.

 

The people now know him as a person who has little respect for India and its tradition and history and culture as well as its prospects in the times to come. Hence his absolutely irresponsible behaviour that has embarrassed the nation to no end over the years. India’s Parliament has seen many, many noisy scenes and noisy protests when the Opposition rallied to corner the Government. Many times, the chair has had to take a very serious stance against the flouting of norms. Despite that, the parties on either side of the dividing line never allowed any bitterness to creep into their work and roles. And the reason was clear : Nobody harboured any malice against anybody. That was the reason democracy enjoyed better health in those early days of India’s Independence. In the past some years, the picture has changed with entirely new set of colours that the common people do not recognise. Such is the sorry state of affairs in politics and Parliament. For the Opposition, no norm is the norm. For it, doubting the integrity of even the Armed Forces is the norm. Shouting from the roof-top that the Prime Minister is selling out the nation is also a norm for Mr. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party under his leadership. Therefore, after all its efforts to counsel Mr. Rahul Gandhi to some point of wisdom, the BJP has chosen the path of “substantive motion” that may be a political cataclysm for the Gandhi family -- if handled with the usual dexterity of the BJP. It is not known if the Gandhi family and the Congress party have taken the potential risks to them into account seriously.