Friday, December 23, 2005

A momentous day in Parliament today…

In a country where the justice system is known for its snail’s pace on actions, the legislative bodies of the country- both the Lok Sabha & the Rajya Sabha-acted swiftly today by expelling the 11 MPs involved in the ‘cash for questions’ scandal.

By coming down heavily on the tainted MPs, the Parliament has set a bench mark for the future. It is an appropriate action, and more importantly a necessary one, to restore the faith of the people in the parliamentary system. The Parliament deserves praise for acting swiftly without any delay on this serious issue. Well done.

On the other hand, it was shocking to see the BJP-led Opposition stage a boycott citing that it is too harsh a punishment for the MPs.

Oh god! What a fall in standards for a party which came into the National scene as a party with a difference!!

God only knows what made them to change their mind on the issue after suspending the accused MPs from the party within an hour of the exposé. I think BJP clearly missed the bigger picture here. They made a huge mistake in deciding to boycott the motion. It would have done an enormous good for the party if they went along with the motion. Rather they choose the other way, which would most probably tarnish their image further after the battering they took due to ‘Operation West End’, the first sting operation that exposed high level corruption in the system.

Alas, the BJP too is becoming like a normal political party that we hate!

Anyways, let us hope that the Parliament acts in similar fashion in dealing with the MPs caught asking for kickbacks for sanctioning funds under MP Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS).

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