Mumbai edit: Just not democracy

Democracy is in peril, and this time, the opposition needs to take some blame. The opposition parties, led by the BJP and backed by long-time ally Shiv Sena and newfound friend, the MNS, have decided that they will not allow the Maharashtra assembly and council to function unless the state government meets their demands for better prices for cotton, soya, and paddy.

No one will deny that our farmers deserve a better deal, and the Congress-NCP government has promised it will do all it can to help farmers. It has refused to give a blanket commitment of fixing a minimum support price of Rs6,000 per quintal for cotton as demanded by the opposition, and wants to look at alternatives.

The irony is that both the treasury and the opposition benches agree that farmers must be protected, though they differ on how. Political parties need to disagree; that strengthens democracy. But a refusal to come to a solution or even agree to disagree like gentlemen is not just political blackmail but also threatens to unleash anarchy upon the state.

Tragically, the BJP-Sena’s threat in Maharashtra runs concurrently with its threat to not allow Parliament to function over the demand for a stronger Lokpal. Democracy is not strengthened by disruptions and refusal to sit across the benches and talk.

Granted, the Congress is not a good listener, but perhaps the BJP and the other opposition parties need to be better talkers. Our opposition parties are running out of ideas on how to get their points of view across, and every time they fail to get their way, the disrupt the assembly or Parliament.

This isn’t democracy. This is anarchy, and Maharashtra (and India, for that matter), is far better off without it.