Anna effect: MPs get down to work; Parliament regains sheen

In an interesting, even paradoxical and ironical, turn of events, people’s power and Team Anna’s growing popularity is helping Parliament regain some of its lost glory. It is after a while that Parliament is being noticed not because of scandals like cash for votes, disruptions and boycotts and lack of parliamentary decorum. Nor is it being bandied about as an example of how not to conduct legislative business. It’s now once again getting noticed for the business being conducted in the House and for the quality of debate that’s happening inside the most hallowed precincts of India’s democracy. And it’s the opposition stalwarts who are showing the way as law makers try and put their best foot forward. Trying to re-establish not just their own credentials but also that of the institution. So if it was Yashwant Sinha last week when Parliament debated the issue of price rise last week, it was the turn of BJP’s parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, on Wednesday as he held forth with great precision, wit and logic to take apart –argument by argument—the Prime Minister’s case to justify the “painful events” leading up to the arrest of Anna Hazare. Later in the afternoon Jaitley shone again when the Rajya Sabha discussed the impeachment motion brought against Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court. Earlier, it was the CPM leader, Sitaram Yechury, who had the complete attention of both the MPs as well as those in the galleries with his forceful and articulate introduction of the motion against Justice Sen. It was not just the opposition leaders who made the parliamentary proceedings look worthwhile and classy. The much in the dock, UPA’s lawyer duo of Chidambram and Sibal also had their share of relief and glory as they participated in the debate on Anna’s arrest in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The Home Minister had the House on its feet when replying to a point made by LK Advani about pre-emptive arrest, he reminded the former deputy prime minister about how the same provision was applied on him by the then Chief Minister of Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav, some 20 years ago when the BJP veteran was arrested at Samastipur and his Rath Yatra stopped as a pre-emptive measure to stop him from violating prohibitory orders under section 144. As the House broke into peels of laughter –even Advani could not resist a big smile—Lalu was heard saying the district magistrate who arrested Advani at Samastipur was now the union home secretary (RK Singh). [caption id=“attachment_63874” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Kapil Sibal speaks in the Lok Sabha. PTI”]  [/caption] Even Sibal had his little moment when the leader of the opposition Sushma Swaraj charged the Congress with disregarding all norms of decency in public life by the manner some of its leaders have chosen to individually target Anna Hazare and called him corrupt from “head to toe”. Sibal immediately retorted by saying that he was happy at the leader of opposition’s sense of decency in public life but he would have been even happier had she been equally critical of the manner in which Anna targeted the Prime Minister in his letter. Sushma was quick to condemn the language Anna used against the PM but Sibal has had his say by then. It’s not just about wit and repartee or scoring debating points. At a time when public cynicism, anger and disgust with any and everything even remotely establishment and political is bordering on the dangerous and Parliament too is basking in the reflected infamy of the Indian politician, even baby steps at restoring credibility is like a booster dose for those who have still not lost all faith in the system. The double whammy of the rise and rise of civil society and the unraveling of one scam after another — cutting across regional and party lines — in the last few months has ended up making the Indian politician the quintessential suspect – if not the hate figure — in the eyes of the masses. Never a highly venerated and respected tribe, events of the recent past have seen the credibility of the political class hitting a new low making them everybody’s favorite whipping boy. In this backdrop the road back to credibility for the establishment will be an arduous one. But these last couple of days — in all the din and celebration of civil society led people’s power — a beginning seems to have been made and the original people’s power, vested in elected representatives in Parliament, also seem to be trying to stage a comeback. It’s best that both sets of people’s power, Team Anna as well as the political class, realise — and realise quickly — that together they still have a fighting chance to rid India of corruption. Otherwise they will just end up fighting each other.