How Modi is replicating Gujarat model in Parliament
Congress president Sonia Gandhi may have called the suspension of 25 of her MPs from Lok Sabha on August 3 the "murder of democracy" and "black day in democracy", but party leaders from Gujarat should tell her that it was the "Gujarat model" which was being replicated in Parliament. Suspension of MPs in Parliament have been far too less and sporadic. But in Gujarat, it has been too many and quite frequent.
A day after Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan suspended the 25 Congress MPs for creating ruckus over the Lalit Modi and Vyapam controversies, the remaining of the 44 party MPs boycotted the lower house. They were joined by several other opposition MPs. But this did not make any difference to the BJP-led NDA government. They passed the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2014 in their absence.
Unperturbed with the boycott even on August 6, the Lok Sabha transacted its business smoothly in their absence and it also passed a couple of Bills. It is likely to conduct its business even on the remaining five of the total 18 sittings in this ongoing monsoon session of Parliament. Some crucial Bills may also be passed during this period. The government is contemplating converting certain Bills into money Bills and have them passed in Lok Sabha. Articles 108-111 and 117 of the Constitution provide that a money Bill does not require the assent of the Rajya Sabha for its passage.
This phenomenon is strikingly similar to the conduct of the Gujarat Assembly, which usually transacts its business after opposition MLAs have either been suspended or have been forced to boycott the house. The question is: has Prime Minister Narendra Modi replicated this "Gujarat model" at the national level?
Like the SC/ ST Amendment Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on August 4, the state assembly too had passed the controversial Gujarat Lokayukta Aayog Bill on April 2, 2013 in the absence of the opposition Congress members, who had boycotted the proceedings in protest against the government's move. Interestingly, the report of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is tabled in the state Assembly invariably on the last day of every budget session, leaving little scope for the opposition to discuss and debate the alleged irregularities committed by the state government.
An impression had gathered in Gujarat that the government did not tolerate the opposition even when the ruling dispensation or its MLAs were at fault. On March 22, 2012, all the Congress MLAs were suspended for creating pandemonium. They were seeking dismissal of two BJP MLAs - Shankar Chaudhary and Jetha Bharvad - accused of watching obscene video clips during the proceedings.
Similarly, in a move which has not yet been witnessed in Parliament, the then leader of opposition in the state assembly Shaktisinh Gohil was suspended for the entire budget session on March 2, 2012 after he refused to tender an apology over his remarks on the alleged nexus between the government and a private company. Several such suspensions are quite common in the state, even if the opposition raises issues of increasing violence or water scarcity in Kutch, Saurashtra and north Gujarat region. About two dozen suspensions of opposition MLAs have taken place during the 13-year-rule of Modi between October 2001 and May 2014.
Why blame only Modi? Such suspensions had taken place even before him. During the chief ministership of BJP's Shankersinh Vaghela between 1996 and 1997, dissenting MLAs were suspended and so was the practice during Modi's immediate predecessor Keshubhai Patel's tenure from 1998 to 2001.
Interestingly, the practice of suspending opposition MLAs and transacting crucial legislative business continues even now under Modi's successor Anandiben Patel's tenure. The Assembly speaker suspended 20 Congress MLAs for a day on March 16, 2015 after they rushed to the well of the house demanding discussion on unseasonal rains causing immense loss to farmers. Several of them were suspended on March 2 after they demanded discussion on the alleged deteriorating law and order situation in the state. Even on an issue like minimum support price (MSP) for cotton, 20 Congress MLAs were suspended on November 11, 2014.
In the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Modi had promised the replication of the Gujarat model of development at the national level. While the development may not be visible yet, the Gujarat model certainly seems to have kick-started in Parliament. The opposition would only wish that it may be a one-off incident and does not become a practice as in Gujarat where the Congress MLAs are suspended on the pettiest of the issues.