Column

There was a definite element of ‘match fixing’ in the much-hyped Lok Sabha debate on the nuclear deal. The CPM’s decision to field Roop Chand Pal to initiate the discussion gave the game away. Pal is a nice man, probably quite learned on the subject, but definitely not the party’s front ranking speaker.

The MP from North Kolkata, Mohammed Salim, almost always leads the attack when the CPM wants to put its best foot forward. So, was there a Left-Congress deal on the deal?

It seems Sitaram Yechury was in and out of Pranab Mukherjee’s room in Parliament in the days preceding the debate. Ostensibly, they were discussing ‘floor coordination’. The phrase turned out to be a pretty euphemism for a hand-in-glove operation.

As the debate meandered limply through six excruciatingly tedious hours, it was obvious that none of the parties, with the exception of the BJP, wanted to put the government on the mat. Least of all the Left.

Having struck a political understanding with the Congress, first at a late night meeting with Sonia Gandhi on October 8, and then over lunch at the Prime Minister’s residence on November 10, the CPM readily turned the floor over to the government and allowed it to have its say without accompanying fireworks.

***
Unfortunately, the debate did not clear the fog of confusion clouding the fate of the nuclear deal. While backroom negotiations are very much par for the course in politics, parliamentary discourse is supposed to ensure transparency in government policy and functioning.

The discussion in the Lok Sabha did no such thing. In fact, the approach of most parties was quite cavalier, as if the debate didn’t matter.

All of them fielded their second-rung speakers who are mostly out of the loop in their parties. Given that the issue paralysed the government for three full months by putting a question mark over its survival, surely those who decide the fate of the country are answerable to Parliament for their actions.

Democracy is not just about holding regular elections. It is also about responsibility and accountability, with Parliament being the channel for communication.

***
The benefits of smoking the peace pipe with the Left were evident during the debate. The DMK, whose leader M Karunanidhi had criticised the deal in a television interview, took a pro-government stand.

But the best spin-off was the muzzling of the UNPA, which had shouted the PM down in the monsoon session when he tried to speak on the 123 agreement.

TDP MPs were absent while SP MP Ram Gopal Yadav let the government off the hook with a surprisingly mild speech. Yadav’s soft punch has become a bee in Amar Singh’s bonnet.

The next day, Singh was seen hunting high and low in the offices of the Lok Sabha secretariat for a transcript of the speech. He probably sees it as a potent weapon to use in his continuing battle with Yadav.

TAILPIECE
While most of the new Congress office bearers have been accommodated in the party headquarters, two secretaries, Jairam Ramesh and Rajiv Shukla, are wandering around like lost souls.

They still haven’t been given a room in which to sit, although it’s been two months since they were appointed. Is it merely an oversight, or does Moti Lal Vora, who’s in charge of administrative matters, have an axe to grind? Ramesh has got a double blow. He’s also lost his place in the elite future challenges committee that’s supposed to craft Rahul Gandhi’s political persona.

Email: a_jerath@dnaindia.net