Will Chandrababu Naidu head for a showdown with judiciary or play safe? Knowing the man and his dexterous handling of politics, Naidu is the last man to join the issue with judiciary.
YSR Congress MLA R K Roja’s suspension has snowballed into a major controversy driving a wedge between the Government and the Opposition.
If the Opposition has created much ado about nothing, the Government is responsible for making mountains of molehills. This surely is an avoidable controversy by the TDP and the YSRC.
Since it is too recent, the dates may not be of great significance. Therefore, I am leaving them out. But let us jog our memory on the chronology of events.
1. Assembly had debated in the erstwhile session the Call Money racket, which rocked the State of Andhra Pradesh, where the YSR Congress creates ruckus, not quite unexpected of any Opposition party. The YSRC MLA of Chandragiri and Movie actress Roja and a few others have been ostensibly hostile to the Chief Minister and a few TDP leaders. No great shakes in that either.
The Opposition MLAs have indeed gone overboard and passed disparaging remarks which are unparliamentary. Though everyone should abhor their language, this surely is just a manifestation, if not culmination, of the animosity towards the ruling party’s onslaught on the Opposition. The gestures and language generally used by certain members of the TDP against Jagan and the Opposition are vulgar, unparliamentary, and abhorrent and unbecoming of their stature and uncharitable on their part.
After all, to every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Of course, just as the High Court mentioned in its latest ruling in Roja’s case, even I am not endorsing the language of the MLA.
Following a slanging match, the treasury benches used their majority to throw out Roja for one year by a resolution of the House over her remarks against Chandrababu Naidu, which were, indeed, in bad taste.
2. Upon suspension, the Assembly did not give any allowance to the Opposition to seek the withdrawal of the decision and revoke the suspension of the MLA. Roja challenged her suspension in the High Court of Hyderabad, but her petition wasn’t entertained.
3. She approached a Division Bench, but to no avail and this led to the legislator knocking the doors of the Supreme Court, which, in turn, pulled up the High Court and wanted it to take up the case and issue appropriate directions.
4. Following the taunt by the apex court through its orders, the HIgh Court heard the petition of Roja and quashed the decision of the Assembly and adjourned the case by four weeks and issued notices to all concerned. In the same directive, the High Court categorically stated that its decision was no way an endorsement of the language used by the MLA on the floor of the House and that it wasn’t interfering with the rights of the House and the Speaker.
5. However, the government denied her entry into the Assembly following the court order. This too was an avoidable controversy. This naturally leads to a debate on the supremacy of judiciary over the legislature or independence of both systems.
6. The entire opposition boycotted the Assembly and squatted in front of Speaker’s office demanding permission for Roja into the House and Jagan led a padayatra to Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum. Instead, had Jagan sought an appointment with Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao and represented the High Court direction, things would have taken a different turn. Jagan could have pushed the TDP into a piquant situation, even if the Speaker didn’t accede to the request.
Instead, the YSR Congress has decided to file a contempt petition in the High Court.
7. The Speaker circulated the court order to MLAs for a debate on it in the House. The Government had appealed to a division bench against the single judge order in the High Court.
That said, the public problems have gone for a toss. The time in the Assembly is spent on discussing the procedures. The ruling combo should exercise more restraint than the Opposition.
A healthy opposition is good for any democracy to thrive. Opposition should debate and deliberate upon the issues. But the trading of charges between the TDP and the YSR Congress only reflect the skewed priorities of both parties.
The TDP which tries to portray itself as a virtuoso and others as outcasts and social evils should introspect and learn to behave like a ruling party instead of demonstrating its fear psychosis towards Jagan.
Jagan never gives mic to any of his colleagues and wants to gobble up all the time in the Assembly. Sadly, the opposition doesn’t seem to do any SWOT analysts and make any course correction. Has he ever thought as to why people have rejected him to be the Chief Minister? What were the corrective measures he adopted to set the house in order and prepare for the next elections?
The banality of the opposition and the treasury benches have taken the sheen out of the platform whose debates are eagerly watched and awaited by the people.
