Parliament... without a bowler

In a democratic process, it is difficult to imagine Parliament functioning without Opposition

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When six crucial Bills were passed in the last week of the Winter Session of the Parliament in its new building, several Opposition MPS had been suspended from the House. Both the ruling party and the Opposition have their own justifications. The Opposition is accusing the government of resorting to arbitrariness and the ruling party is saying that the former has become anarchic! This is for the first time in the history of the Indian republic that 146 MPs were suspended from Parliament during a session. Among them are 100 MPs from Lok Sabha and 46 from Rajya Sabha. Earlier in 1989, 63 Opposition MPS were suspended from Lok Sabha as they were demanding tabling of the Indira Gandhi assassination probe report in the House.

This time, the MPs were demanding a statement from the Prime Minister and the Home Minister on the Parliament security breach. The ruling party objected to it saying that since the investigation is underway, why demand a statement? This caused a furore in the House with the situation going from bad to worse triggering a series of suspensions. Someone remarked that the government is acting like a batsman who wants to score a century by batting without a bowler and a fielder. I have been a member of Parliament for 18 years and witnessed fierce debates on many issues. I have been witness to a lot of heated debate and uproar, but the suspension of MPs on such a large scale is really surprising. Is it possible to imagine Parliament without Opposition? Absolutely not, because Opposition is an important arm of democracy.

Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister, ruled with full authority.