Saturday, July 21, 2018

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'No Confidence Motion – An unnecessary drama' that was published in Newsband


No Confidence Motion – An unnecessary drama
The BJP-led NDA government on Friday defeated the no-confidence motion moved against it by the Opposition and initiated by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) after a 12-hour debate. The final figures, subject to correction, stood at 325 with the government and 126 against, with no abstentions. Even without the Shiv Sena, the BJP got support from non-NDA parties.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s sharp attack over defence deals and crony capitalism failed to make an impact. Rahul Gandhi hugging the startled Prime Minister made the latter remark that the hug reflected a “hurry to come to power”. All these dramas set the tone for the next general election.
Modi’s speech was dominated by references to the Congress and its attempts to forge an Opposition unity against the BJP. Modi rightly said that this is not a floor test of the government but a floor test of the Congress and the parties it wants to ally with. It is the Congress seeking validation from allies for their leader’s candidacy as the candidate for prime minister, he added.
Recent world soccer matches showed that, all teams being nearly of equal standards, the most opportunistic players win for their side. In the No Confidence Motion, by a combination of various factors and Indian inability to forge a selfless and effective third front, and an already declined Congress, a political void has been created. Now it is the turn of BJP to avail the opportunity and dominate the national political scene for a while
The timing selected for bringing out No Confidence Motion against the ruling party is ill timed. Rather, it is an unwarranted one, after the ruling party completed its term of more than four years. One should support neither the Opposition nor the Ruling. All that is expected is that the country should have a stable economy, a stable stature and position globally and in the eyes of competing nations. The country should be in a position to tackle external threats which is possible only by a stable government. The country should have a stable economical position and improved Balance of Payments position with improved reserve of Foreign Exchange, which is quite possible with stable economic and banking policies. The country should have a peaceful situation across all the States devoid of any threats to social life. Let the support be to those who concentrate on such above aspects, instead of proving who is Big and who is Small, which is already proved by the electoral mandate.
If objective of ‘No confidence motion’ was to embarrass the Prime Minister by making unsubstantiated allegations against PM it has failed. If objective was to compel Centre to grant Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh, it has not been achieved. Whether before the Lok Sabha election in 2019, the motion will lead to unity among the regional parties, it is difficult to say as the BJD, AIADMK and TRS do not wish to be part of the grand alliance. As far as Congress is concerned, whether it will benefit from the motion, the chances are that it will neither be part of grand alliance not will it openly excluded from it. Leaders of regional parties like SP, BSP, RJD, NCP, TDP and others everyone knows strengths and weaknesses of Congress party and they will make ensure that the Congress’ will not be a gainer from alliance. If Congress can concentrate in four or five states, (Karnataka, Rajasthan. Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra), it may be able to make it a contest.
At the end of the day, a common man wants a country of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas from our present government or future government, whether it is ruled by BJP or Congress or by someone else. Even after 70 years of Independence, we have not improved much in spite of our huge potential in every filed.
In the NCM, the country merely witnessed a clash of personalities, frivolous use of parliament to abuse each other, and the mega-enormous waste of tax-payer money in petty bickering. The debate, if indeed it can be called that, was mostly in poor taste, unparliamentary in the temple, and did not focus on the outcome of governance and performance over the last four years. It was an opportunity lost. The voting public did not come away any better informed at the end, than they were when they went into the debate. This was reality theater which did nothing to change or garner opinion based on volleyed arguments on the merits and demerits of policies implemented by the government. At the end of the day the contours of partisanship remained intact. A grammar school student could have counted the final votes even before they were cast in the parliament.
Is this why we pay these guys to go to the parliament for?

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