The following article was written for Niti Central. Am pasting it here for reference.
Ever since the current Monsoon Session of Parliament has begun, it has been hit by continuous disruptions. The sermon givers in the national media have rued wastage of Parliament time; have written about their intention to fine these MPs; and have had debates on why Parliamentarians cannot debate instead of disrupting.
But none of them have informed about why the disruptions were happening. In the Lok Sabha, for most of the days, 8 Congress and 4 TDP MPs held the House to ransom. They walked up to the Well, and started shouting slogans and the House had to be adjourned every single day. Please note that 8 Congress MPs were disrupting the House. In the Rajya Sabha, mere two TDP MPs held the House for ransom for a long time.
What are their demands? Amongst many, there is one primary demand “give us a clarity on the splitting up of Andhra Pradesh”. It has been 25 days since Congress Working Committee (CWC) announcement was made, and the people of the State are yet to have any kind of clarity on the process. Sonia Gandhi has steadfastly refused to give any clarity. What stopped the UPA Government to make a statement in the Lok Sabha and assuage some feelings? Why couldn’t Sonia Gandhi announce a time frame for the processes involved? Why is she encouraging her MPs to disrupt the House, when it is within her powers to restore sanity? These are questions that no media house will ever ask, they will simply bombard us with rhetorical questions that have little meaning!
Since the last 25 days, both the Rayalaseema and Andhra regions have been up in arms against Sonia Gandhi. According to local reports, everyday, atleast 3 lakh people are hitting the roads to protest against birfurcation. Nearly four lakh Government employees are on strike. The Andhra Pradesh High Court has reprimanded the employee associations for participating in a political strike and has asked them to furnish reasons for going on the strike.
Nearly two lakh teachers are on strike since the last two days. Many schools and colleges have pretty much remained closed for the last 25 days! Rasta rokos, highway blockades, bus bandhs have become a daily occurence. In addition to this, Seemandhra and Telangana employees in the capital city are resorting to competitive strikes at various offices. Police are having a tough time to control the charged up emotions in these offices!
The genius that is Rahul Gandhi apparently asked the AP Chief Minister why there is so much anger on the streets against the Congress only, when other parties too have announced their intention in favour of the split! The genius obviously doesn’t understand that the ruling party has a far bigger responsibility than the Opposition parties. Merely taking decisions because “others have done so” is a sign of desperation, not responsibility.
But then, we are expecting too much from the likes of Rahul Gandhi to assume responsibility. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have made no attempt to even discuss with their own leaders before deciding to split up the State, and now are innocently questioning – why us?. Can there be a greater tragedy than this, that we are being led by such people? Chiranjeevi met Sonia Gandhi on Friday informing over the split of Andhra Pradesh. She apparently told him that split will go ahead and he should now find out what people want so that the Government can help!
Can this hypocrisy get any worse? Since 25 days, people are out on the streets demanding what they want, Sonia Gandhi! It’s a real pity that you don’t intend to talk to them or resolve their fears. Now, folks from Telangana have started demanding that the process be speeded-up. Such is the distinct confusion that Sonia Gandhi’s Congress has compounded.
Twenty five days of near shut down of 13 out of 23 districts in the State is not a small matter. It does not seem to be getting better anytime soon. If this does not deserve prominent mention in the national media; if this does not deserve prominent discussion in Parliament; if this does not deserve a statement (to soothe emotions) by none other than the Prime Minister of the country; if this does not break Sonia Gandhi’s silence, then we really don’t know what else will.
0 comments:
Post a Comment