Rahul Gandhi is putting on the show of his intellectual bankruptcy in the national capital by staging a new circus every single day. The current Congress leadership is completely oblivious to the fact that it is publicly tarnishing the reputation of a party with a legacy spanning 140 years. Rahul Gandhi is publicly humiliating the very democracy that the Congress fought for against the British. Unfortunately, not a single senior journalist or intellectual has the courage to talk some sense into the Congress leadership. Tavleen Singh, a columnist with The Indian Express, is the sole exception to this. Rahul Gandhi has not allowed a single parliamentary session to proceed peacefully in the last two and half years. He has proved that he has absolutely no concern for democracy by staging walkouts and creating disruptions during each and every session. He seems to believe that this is the only way to project himself as an aggressive opposition leader in the minds of the people. Political parties can definitely show their strength by holding rallies or public meetings outside the parliament. However, the opposition is expected to participate in parliamentary proceedings in order to voice its opinion on various subjects and government bills.Democracy has provided the opposition with various tools to corner the government. Objections to any bill can be effectively raised in Parliament by using these tools efficiently. Parliamentary discussion is not just a government formality. Stalwarts like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishna Advani, George Fernandes, Barrister Nath Pai, Professor Madhu Dandavate, Piloo Mody, Madhu Limaye, Chandra Shekhar, Somnath Chatterjee and Sushma Swaraj, while in opposition, forced the then-mighty Congress government to back down on several occasions through parliamentary debates and the effective use of parliamentary tools. The Question Hour in Parliament is a golden opportunity to corner the government.A vigilant opposition can put the government in a tight spot by making effective use of the Question Hour. However, Rahul Gandhi must have realised long ago that he cannot corner the government by participating in such intellectual debates. Perhaps this is precisely the reason why he may have chosen the “intelligent” path of not participating in parliamentary debates. There are intelligent leaders like Shashi Tharoor in his party. These leaders can participate in parliamentary debates and present the Congress party’s stand in a very effective manner. However, people like Shashi Tharoor do not get a chance to participate in discussions on important bills due to Rahul Gandhi’s stubbornness.Rahul Gandhi, who does not have the ability to participate seriously in parliamentary proceedings, had recently organized a ‘mock parliament’ on the issue of the revision of electoral rolls. He had an opportunity to raise objections on this issue in Parliament by directly participating in its proceedings. Even Lord Ganesha, the god of wisdom, must be wondering why Rahul Gandhi wouldn’t think of using such an opportunity wisely. Rahul Gandhi takes great pleasure in showing off his absolute ‘genius’ during press conferences, public meetings and rallies. Some students staged protests in July against the NEET question paper leak. The Modi government was taking various decisions to improve the NEET examination system. Rahul Gandhi had the opportunity to participate in this decision-making process. The Monsoon Session of Parliament was underway at that time. Experts from the Congress party could have offered suggestions on reforms to the NEET examination system during that session. The central government has appointed a committee to reform the NEET examination system under the chairmanship of Nandan Nilekani. It would have been an excellent example of a healthy democracy if the main opposition party in the Lok Sabha had offered some suggestions to this committee. The Modi government had taken several decisions, such as amending the Public Examinations Act, establishing fast-track courts and announcing a computer-based examination system to bring transparency to the NEET examination system. The participation of both the ruling party and the entire opposition in discussions before reaching such a decision is a sign of a healthy democracy. However, since Rahul Gandhi is not interested in participating in such intellectual, well-studied discussions, he prevents others from his party from participating in them. He never accepted the invitations extended by the government on several occasions to discuss the NEET examination issue. Whatever objections or doubts parties such as the Congress, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal had regarding the drive for revision of electoral rolls could have been raised and clarified on the floor of the Lok Sabha. However, the Opposition completely missed this opportunity.Rahul Gandhi has started playing a double role by staging a ‘mock parliament’ and portraying himself as a champion of democracy on one hand, while running away from actual parliamentary debates on the other. It is still a mystery on what basis Rahul Gandhi thinks that the common man fails to understand his hypocrisy. Rahul Gandhi does not have the depth of understanding to grasp the wisdom of Indian voters. He held a press conference in which he alleged that the names of many voters in Bihar had been deliberately removed. However, not a single voter in Bihar approached the court to complain that their names had been excluded through unfair practices. In the first place, the staff and officials of the Election Commission do not possess the divine power to understand which political party a voter supports, simply by looking at their name. Rahul Gandhi does not seem to have this basic knowledge. In fact, through his own conduct, he has created a situation that makes one feel it is unfortunate for the Congress to have such shallow leadership.(The writer is vice president, BJP Maharashtra)
Disclaimer: Views expressed above are the author’s own.