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Unedifying behaviour

In the last week, the Bharatiya Janata Party's parliamentary conduct has plumbed new depths. The party has been behaving like a bad loser, disrupting Parliament with a gusto unbefitting the main Opposition party. It might have been possible to be good-humoured about the BJP's zest for disorder had the party not been persistently offensive to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. That the party's big two did not participate in the unedifying spectacle has turned out to be an illusory relief. Lal Krishna Advani thought nothing of joining those who sat on a dharna with gags — to protest the Speaker's alleged intolerance of the Opposition. There is little of Mr.Vajpayee's famed civility and exemplary parliamentary manner in his August 8 letter to Somnath Chatterjee which plainly informs the Speaker that he is prejudiced towards the Opposition and is therefore unfit to carry on his duties. Mr. Vajpayee may have desisted from language used by his lesser colleagues who once called Mr. Chatterjee a dictator. Yet the tone of the letter from a former Prime Minister to an incumbent presiding officer is almost as intimidating. The offence caused to Mr. Chatterjee is all the greater for the consideration he himself has unfailingly shown — to the Opposition as a whole and especially to the leadership of the BJP. Take the Speaker's August 6 letter to the members of the House. It is a plaintive cry for "help and cooperation" in order to "show to our people that we are sincerely and devotedly making endeavours to solve the problems of the people and of our great Nation..."

Take also Mr. Chatterjee's follow-up letter to Mr. Vajpayee — "earnestly requesting" that the National Democratic Alliance reconsider its decision to boycott the Lok Sabha. The tone is almost deferential, and yet the entreaties are rudely rebuffed by Mr. Vajpayee who tells the Speaker that he is biased and demanding: "confidence in one's fairness and objectivity has to be commanded; it cannot be demanded." So what has Mr. Chatterjee done to earn this censure? He allowed business to be conducted disregarding a BJP in tantrum mode. It has to be a strange democracy where the Speaker is hauled up for conducting business. As Mr. Chatterjee pointed out in his letter to the MPs, a third of the legislative time in this monsoon session has been lost to disruptions — precluding discussion on issues of concern to farmers and ordinary people. It was on Mr. Chatterjee's suggestion that the Akali Dal member, S.S. Dhindsa, listed the issue of inadequate minimum support price for agricultural produce as a calling attention motion requiring the Government to reply. Yet when the time came, members of the National Democratic Alliance let go of the opportunity, resorting instead to the practice of stalling the House. The Speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha has admitted more adjournment motions and calling attention notices than any of his immediate predecessors — if proof were needed of his fairness. He clearly deserves greater respect from the Opposition.

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