
CHENNAI: Congress MP and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor on Monday rued the decline in the quality of debate and proceedings in the Indian Parliament.
In a conversation with senior journalist Kaveree Bamzai about India's Parliamentary proceedings at the ThinkEdu Conclave in Chennai, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said that the BJP-led NDA government gives a sense that the opposition's views don't matter.
Tharoor added that there was a "complete breakdown of trust and communication" between the government and the opposition, unlike when UPA was in power, where views of opposition leaders was considered even while passing important bills.
This had made the Parliament a "disappointing" place to sit and work , given the quality of debate and frequent disruptions, he said. "It fails to give a sense that it is a temple of democracy," Tharoor said.
He also claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi hardly attends Parliament and that questions posed to ministries he is in charge of are answered by the Minister of State (Jitendra Singh).
At the start of the conversation with Bamzai, Tharoor went so far as to say that he finds interacting with people more rewarding than Parliament.
Responding to a question from Bamzai about the new Parliament building, Tharoor said it was akin to a "soulless convention hall" and lacked the character and charm of its predecessor.
The ruling party and the opposition should be seen as adversaries who have the nation's best interests at heart, but in the current charged atmosphere, words like "anti-national" and "treason" were being used for opposition MPs, Tharoor said.
"They are being seen as enemies and not adversaries," he said, referring to the relationship between the ruling party MPs and the opposition.
Bamzai chipped in to probe if BJP MPs spoke or expressed their views freely on such issues in private.
In response, Tharoor cited examples of how current BJP MPs and even ministers were declining invitations to socialize with opposition colleagues. This wasn't the case during the UPA rule, he claimed.
On the question of disruptions by opposition, Tharoor said that BJP leaders when sitting in the opposition benches argued that it was a legitimate tactic. But the same party after coming to power was bashing disruptions.
To a query from Bamzai about the microphones of opposition MPs being turned off and the general animosity with the chair in both Houses, Tharoor said that the former was true and that the relationship with the Chairs has definitely worsened.
The Chairs should view themselves as a presiding officer and shed their political prejudices, Tharoor said, but admitted that it may be difficult as they probably received instructions from the government.
However, Tharoor said that though Parliament should matter more, it was definitely important. He cited two important events; one was the impact of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's speech in the hall labelling the BJP government as a "suit-boot ki sarkar" which forced the ruling party to take measures to shed that image.
Second was the expulsion of Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra's expulsion, which was an indication of the impact of her speeches in the house.
Responding to questions from the audience, Tharoor also said he was open to giving suggestions on how to resolve the issue of disruptions of Parliament. One was to allot one day of the week to allow the Opposition to set the agenda with an agreement to keep the disruptions away on the other days.
But this was unlikely to happen as the current government was unwilling to accept suggestions from the Opposition.
"Why would the government reform this when they are getting their way," Tharoor said.