#204

The Parliamentary Affairs minister Mr. Ananth Kumar is a shameless liar.  Ms. Sumitra Mahajan is one of the most blatantly partisan speakers of the Lok Sabha that I have known.  She's been more interested in adjourning the house, rather than conducting its business.  Prime Minister Modi himself cares two hoots about the democratic norms and institutions, never mind all the pious talk from the pulpit from time to time.  This has been the least productive budget session of parliament in the past 20 years.  In fact, the finance bill itself was rushed through in 30 minutes flat without any debate or discussion amidst the chaos!  This is unpardonable.  No worthwhile business got transacted in the second half of this session.  Billions of rupees of taxpayers money have gone down the drain.  More than a few 'no confidence' motions were simply ignored.  This has set a very dangerous precedent.  I find it astounding that a government which is supposed to be enjoying a comfortable majority in the house is running scared to not only test its strength in the house but also engage in meaningful debate and discussion with the opposition.  The kind of chaos and disorder witnessed in parliament in the last few weeks have been clearly orchestrated by the ruling party so that they don't have to deal with any uncomfortable questions about the state of the nation.
     In any democracy, the Parliament is sacrosanct.  It expresses the sovereign will of the people.  By stalling parliament through the proxy in the guise of a handful of members who are technically not part of the government but are willing to do its bidding as part of some secret arrangements.  This cynical and scandalous brand of politics is going to throttle democracy forever.  We must not allow a megalomaniac like Modi to vandalize the edifice of our hard-won democracy.