No reason to skip sessions is worthy enough

Time has come to bring in major reforms in the political system in the country before the political parties, whether it be the NDA or the INDI bloc, make ‘Fatafat Khatakhat’ promises – mostly freebies – and create division of voters on lines of caste and religion, making claims of becoming game changers.

First and foremost, those who lose power should first learn to digest the verdict given by voters and should not indulge only in negative talk saying the elected government would collapse the next day. We had seen how a government which started with destructive politics in Andhra Pradesh was in the office for five years. The state suffered on all fronts; of course, the BJP government at Centre during the period 2019-2024 must share the blame for it.

Similarly, the BRS in Telangana including its learned chief K Chandrashekar Rao never had even one positive word for the 11 months old government. The levels of ‘ego’, whether it be the leader of the opposition in Telangana or the chief of YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh, are so high they refuse to attend the Assembly.

The BRS is a shade different from the YSRCP. In Telangana, only KCR does not attend the Assembly despite being the leader of opposition but in AP the entire party boycotts the session as the government refuses to accept their demand that Jagan be recognised as the leader of opposition even if it is against the rules. For five years, the YSRCP violated all the rules and wants the same situation to continue.

It is sad that the YSRCP is not willing to follow the rules or conventions. The Direction No121(c) stipulates one-tenth of the total number of the Members of the House as a requirement for the recognition of a party/group as opposition in Parliament. As no single party got the required 10% seats in 2019 in Parliament, the Congress was denied the LoP status.

Jagan when in power was on record, saying on the floor of the Andhra Assembly that if he opened the flood gates, most of TDP MLAs would jump over to YSRCP and Chandrababu Naidu would lose the status of the leader of opposition. But now when his party is decimated, he says the government refuses to accept that there is an opposition party, and it has a leader. And, hence, their decision to boycott the session. But, they are not willing to forego salaries and perks.

Hence, it is time Parliament legislate that any party which is not willing to accept the verdict of people and refuses to represent them in State Assemblies or Parliament cannot boycott the sessions for five years and yet draw salaries. They should resign from the Assembly and should not contest elections again till the next general elections. They have no right to bleed the state exchequer. That is not the purpose for which they have been elected. Either they should participate in the proceedings or quit.

Similarly, the judiciary, too, needs to recommend to the government to ensure that those who are out on bail get no exemptions for years together from attending the hearing of the cases. This happens in the case of politicians, particularly, those in power.

Even serious cases of economic offences are kept pending for decades and the elected politicians are given exemption from attending the hearings. If every individual is equal before law, then why not extend the same concession to the common man also? All leaders and parties talk of free judiciary. But Justice Chandrachud’s comments that the pressure on judges comes not just from the political executives, but also from private interest groups, speak volumes about why justice is delayed and sometimes denied.