Disclaimer: I do not associate myself to any of the political party or ideology (at least for this post) I speak from the helplessness I feel as a citizen of this nation. I write this letter as my conscience is not allowing me to keep quite when so much of nation’s resources are wasted on nothing but on the fragile egos and destructive party politics of Indian Parliamentarians.

Respected Parliamentarians,

             I won’t remind you of the values and the ideas of forefathers who made our constitution, because I assume that the party manifesto is of greater priority than the Bible of Indian Democracy to you. I won’t waste neither of our time in reminding you of your responsibilities- constitutional & moral as more of your loyalty is placed in your party’s high command than the nation’s high command which is- The people. I would rather beg to you, just do your duty assigned to you by a book which is supreme than any party, person, religion and caste i.e. the Constitution of India (I really hope that you remember something which goes by this name, exists) On one hand it really saddens me that we as a nation have produced world class executives in private sectors, but failed to nurture even a minimum standard political leadership in our nation. No matter how generic this sentence might sound but the problems which were there 60 years back still exist, and even with the same or unfortunately greater magnitude.

          I write this part especially for the ruling party. Next time when you schedule a session please make sure that you include as many MPs possible (from all the parties) Year after year the days on which the parliament functions have been decreasing. The sessions are getting shorter year after year which is just defeating the purpose of us calling India a ‘Democracy’ (I hope you never forget this word) Make sure maximum members are indulged into fruitful and constructive debate on bills and matters of importance. Try to keep your ego aside and reach out to your fellow Parliamentarians across the ‘well.’ Include them in decision making even when you know that you are in a majority, not to flaunt yourself on moral high ground but because that is what ‘Democracy’ essentially means. Most importantly, the MPs who don’t form the government and the MPs of opposition parties have been elected through the same channels of Democracy from which you have been elected. Second most important point here is, show the other MPs who are not in the government ‘Respect’ (Let us pray that this word should also be forever in your mind.)These are not your enemies (Nor do they come from Pakistan), please keep in mind that these are our people, our sisters and brothers. These days the debates in Parliament are not as interesting as the time when Mr. Chidambaram, Pranab Da, Pramod Mahajanji, Atalji, Advani ji (Yes he too spoke, and when he did he was real good) spoke. The debates were something which decided the faith of the nation. Today when I see clips of the recent sessions and they are only about how good the Prime Minister spoke or how bad the opposition behaved. I really don’t know why the present government is so insecure, when it has a clear majority, why does it fear criticism? Focus on doing some good work for our nation, debate well in the Parliament, the nation is going to watch that.

          I write this part for the opposition and the MPs who do not form the government. I think, the very basic idea of creating a ruckus in the parliament is flawed. The reason behind the behavior which is- even the previous opposition (the present government) did the same, is stupid (Then what is the difference between the past and the present opposition party?) Both have failed to do their job equally. The Parliament is the only and the most significant platform for you to put forward to the nation the issues that matter. There are many more issues in the nation which are more important and for which the government has to be questioned rather than on which you close down the functioning of the Parliament. The opposition party plays an equally important role of being a watchdog on Government’s activities. If it creates a ruckus and leaves the Hon’ speaker no option but to adjourn the debate for the day then it gives a free hand to the government to introduce ordinances which you will have problem later. After all the Government by any means has to keep the legal framework of this nation dynamic. Indulge into critical and constructive debates rather only in rhetoric, give the able speakers the chance to put forth their opinions which will make an impact. Do not try to revive the leaders who time and again have failed to prove themselves.

I request you all to do your job faithfully and set a record of wasting the minimum work hours of Parliament in the history of India, quiet contradictory to what happened in the last session. For every parliamentarian, this is a message from a common man of India – Be a firm and rational individual first and then MPs of your party, have the courage to oppose to the party line if you think that your stand is morally correct and beneficial for the nation as a whole.

          Please think a little logically. Running a successful parliament is a win-win situation for everyone. Government gets to put forward a strong position in front of the nation, it gets to introduce new laws and project their commitment to the people of India. Opposition gets the biggest platform to constructively criticize the Bills which the Government has proposed. People would really not feel dejected and defeated and regret their decision of voting you to the Parliament which currently they are, and if the situation from last session repeats this time too, then they will really think whether to vote at all to such set of ‘leaders’.

  Yours  Faithfully,

A Citizen of India

(Picture Courtesy: DD News)