Why BJP’s nationwide fast is irresponsible
Amit Shah staged a fast in poll-bound Karnataka.
On Monday (April 9), the Congress had observed a daylong fast, against the BJP’s “oppressive ideology”. Not to be outdone, the BJP launched its own version on Thursday (April 12), bigger and better than the Congress’, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself taking part in it.
The Congress says the BJP has oppressed the people, through its “divisive, casteist” mindset. The BJP says the Opposition has oppressed it, through its “obstructionist practice” of paralysing Parliament in the recent Budget Session. If everyone is protesting, who exactly is responding?
If PM protests, who is to redress?
The BJP’s fast is high on beautifully crafted optics.
After the Congress had chhole bhatoore smeared all over its pious-intentioned face, the saffron party is taking no chances. Its workers have been asked to stay away from sustenance and selfies. In Delhi, in fact, food stalls have been asked to shift from the fast venue, to save karyakartas from temptation.
BJP leaders across the country have been tweeting pictures of the fast from their states.
?????? ?? ???? ??? ?????? ??????? ?? ??? ?? ???? ?? ???? ???? ?? ??? ???????? ?? ????? ???? ??? ???? ?? ????? ????? ?? ???????????? ?? ??? ????? ??? ???? ????? ‘???????? ???? ????? ??? ????’ #FastWithPMModi pic.twitter.com/2Tbf32cEpt
— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) April 12, 2018
?????? ?????? ???? ??? ?????? ??????? ?? ??? ?? ????? ?????? ?? ????? ???? ?? ????? ??? ???????????? ???? ???????? ???? ?? ??????? ??? ?? ???????? ????????? ??? ???? ??? ????? ?? ?? ?????? ?? ??????? ???? ? ???????? ?? ?????? ?? ???? ????? ? #FastWithPMModi pic.twitter.com/DZOpy3AB9s
— Dr.Ramesh Pokhriyal (@DrRPNishank) April 12, 2018
?????? ?? ???-??????????? ???? ?? ????? ?????? ?????? ?? ????? ?????? ???????????? ???? @narendramodi ?? ???? ??? ?? ??? @BJP4India ?? ?????????? ????????? ?? ??? ???? ???? ?????? ??????? ???? ??? ?? @BJP4India ?? ???????????? ?? ?? ???? ??? ???? ???????? ???? ???#FastWithPMModi pic.twitter.com/BM4b81O4q2
— Jayant Sinha (@jayantsinha) April 12, 2018
?????? ?? ???-??????????? ???? ?? ????? ?????? ?????? ?? ????? ?????? ???????????? ???? @narendramodi ?? ???? ??? ?? ??? @BJP4India ?? ?????????? ????????? ?? ??? ???? ???? ?????? ??????? ???? ??? ?? @BJP4India ?? ???????????? ?? ?? ???? ??? ???? ???????? ???? ???#FastWithPMModi pic.twitter.com/BM4b81O4q2
— Jayant Sinha (@jayantsinha) April 12, 2018
The PM, in keeping with his “hard-worker” image that the Indian middle class is so enamoured by, has declared that he will not eat, but will continue to work. This, of course, is to be contrasted with Rahul Gandhi, who had joined the Congress protest at 1.30pm and the BJP had quickly pointed out that this was because he was used to the “politics of luxury” and couldn’t wake up in the morning.
Amit Shah is holding his fast in Karnataka, the stage of imminent, high-stakes Assembly polls.
All of this cannot hide one simple fact – the whole exercise is monumentally farcical.
The BJP is the ruling party, commanding a massive majority in Parliament and in power in several states. The government is the unsatisfied’s court of appeal, the authority responsible for redressing others’ grievances. If the prime minister himself is sitting on hunger strikes, who is supposed to hear him out and provide solutions?
BJP’s tryst with Parliament washouts
Alternatively, the strike can be a moral weapon, not necessarily to demand answers, but to make a statement, to embarrass the intended target and force them to introspect.
Here too, the BJP is on thin grounds. It cannot very well claim to be an innocent victim where parliamentary disruptions are concerned.
The productivity of Parliament in this Budget session has indeed been shamefully low, with near constant disruptions and adjournments. The BJP has squarely blamed the Congress for it.
Ahead of Thursday’s protest, PM Modi had said: “The people who couldn’t gain power in 2014, don’t want the country to move forward. They didn’t let Parliament work for a single day. They killed democracy & we will observe fast to bring their crime in front of world.”
However, the claim doesn’t stand.
The disruptions in Parliament this time have been over state-specific issues, with the AIADMK MPs protesting over the Cauvery water-sharing taking the lead. Among the discussions and motions that could not be taken up because of the row were matters that could embarrass the ruling party, such as the Nirav Modi scam, the Rafale deal, and the CBSE paper leaks.
For the first time in the history of India’s parliamentary democracy, a no-confidence motion against the government could not be moved because the House was too disorderly for it – a huge vote of no confidence against Parliament itself.
Senior leaders, such as Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Congress’s Mallikarjun Kharge, have repeatedly accused the BJP of engineering the din in the House to escape tough questions.
The government has shown it can conduct business in Parliament when it wants to. The Union Budget of the country had been passed within an hour through a voice vote, even as protests were on in the Lok Sabha.
Also, as the ruling party with an absolute majority, it is the BJP’s responsibility to reach out to the Opposition and bring them to the table. The prime minister is the head of the Lok Sabha. Why did the very eloquent, very persuasive Modi not make efforts to engage the Opposition in discussions?
In fact, the BJP seems to think there are only two ways to make the House function – either steam-roller legislations, or allow total paralysis.
Indeed, even the copyright for Parliament logjams lies with the BJP, which used the tool repeatedly during the last few sessions of a hapless UPA 2. Its senior leaders, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively, had gone on record to defend the practice.
While Swaraj had said that “not allowing Parliament to function is also a form of democracy, like any other form”, Jaitley had asserted: “If parliamentary accountability is subverted and a debate is intended to be used merely to put a lid on parliamentary accountability, it is then a legitimate tactic for the Opposition to expose the government through parliamentary instruments available at its command.”
The country is in a boil over the Kathua and the Unnao rapes, the Cauvery water-sharing issue, the “dilution” of the Atrocities Act. The ruling party, meanwhile, is busy in competitive fasting.
The BJP needs to realise that optics are not enough to keep the country entranced, and people want solutions.