Stormy monsoon session on anvil

Stormy scenes are likely to be witnessed as Parliament meets once again for the monsoon session from Monday. Although the elections of both the President followed by that of the Vice President are slated, other matters would somehow overshadow these developments.
It is but a matter of barely one more week when Ram Nath Kovind’s tenure as Rashtrapati ends, paving the way for Droupadi Murmu to succeed him as the first tribal woman to be elevated as the first citizen of the country. As mentioned in these columns earlier, Yashwant Sinha, a very competent leader and a key member of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, virtually stands no chance of putting up even a semblance of a fight.
However, this contest would be noteworthy since Murmu may end up securing not even a single vote from the state of Kerala where both the ruling coalition and the Opposition are supporting Sinha. Opposition parties may also try to whip up emotions amongst the tribals who do not belong to Murmu’s lineage but are more in numbers. Incidentally, the largest concentration of tribals is perhaps in Madhya Pradesh and the Bheels probably have the largest population.
So far as the offices of the President and Vice President are concerned, politics should end after the election, but this is unlikely going to be the case. It would also be in the fitness of things that there is a consensus built on the choice of the Vice President, who shall also be the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
The best traditions of Parliamentary democracy from Britain should be imbibed since our system is inspired by the Westminster model. In this context, in future, the Speaker should be elected for life and once in office, should cease to be a member of any political party. This would also enable his unopposed election in future polls if the conventions of the House of Commons have to be followed.
It is significant to point out that both Murmu and Sinha have travelled extensively in the past few weeks and have been felicitated by their supporters. Although the outcome is a foregone conclusion, because of the numbers game, the opposition must gracefully back Murmu once she occupies the august office.
There has also been a controversy over the installation of the Ashoka Lions, which constitute the National Emblem, atop the new building of the Parliament House. Opposition leaders have questioned why Prime Minister Narendra Modi overshadowed everyone else when the installation was done, relegating both the Speaker and the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha to play second fiddle. It has been argued that since there is a separation of power between the Executive, Judiciary and the Legislature based on Montesquieu’s theory, the prerogative of doing the honours should have been that of the Speaker.
This is of course plain politics as there were also questions why both the President and the Vice President, who are also an integral party of the Parliamentary system, were missing from the event. This is an issue where only legal experts can give the final opinion, but the counter argument is that the Prime Minister inaugurated a building which is non-functional as of now and hence does not fall under the purview of the Speaker.
A row also erupted over the size of the National Emblem and how the Ashoka Lions looked more ferocious than those in the original symbol. Both the Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri and the main sculptor of the Emblem, have maintained that there has been no deviation but it was an optic illusion when viewed from below. However, when seen from the same level, they were similar to the Lions which are displayed in multiple cities of the country. The Opposition charge is that under the Emblem Act, there can be no deviation from the original, even if the structure is amplified, but the counter-view is that the sanctity of the Emblem has been maintained and preserved.
It is evident that this issue would crop up during the monsoon session and could see a face-off between the Treasury benches and the Opposition. Politics somehow creeps in at every juncture and in the process, many other important issues do not get discussed or debated.
To add to the string of controversies, an advisory by an official of the Rajya Sabha stating that no dharnas could take place in the precincts of Parliament House was issued. A booklet on certain words being included in the list of unparliamentary vocabulary found was also notified.
Anticipating a furore, the Speaker has clarified that no word has been banned and members were free to express themselves as they pleased. However, as has been the practice, if any word was wrongly used keeping the context in mind, it would be expunged from the records. NCP leader Sharad Pawar also showed surprise on how dharnas and agitations could be banned. Members often congregate at the Gandhi statue to express their opposition to any government policy which they find inappropriate.
There was a time when the debates in Parliament were of a very high calibre and senior Parliamentarians used their profound knowledge and grasp of the various issues to forcibly drive home their points. Veterans who have covered Parliament greatly miss the likes of Madhu Limaye, Inderjit Gupta, Somnath Chatterjee, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Chandra Shekhar, Jyotirymoy Basu and many more stalwarts. The present MPs too should keep the traditions intact. Between us.