Amid deluge of Sushma-Sonia vitriol, monsoon session of Parliament a wash-out

It’s a complete wash-out, a criminal waste of the taxpayers’ money. The monsoon session of the Indian Parliament that ends on August 13saw a deluge of vitriol, with the BJP-led NDA government locked into an unending sparring match with the opposition Congress that tried to corner the ruling party on charges of corruption and impropriety involving its senior leaders and ministers. Trading barbs that degenerated into embittered personal attacks took a vicious turn on August 12 as two stalwart women leaders in the Lok Sabha, Sonia Gandhi of Congress party and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj launched invectives against each other.

The Parliament was expected to pass the long-pending Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, which was touted as a game-changer in reforming the taxation system in the country. The GST has been discussed over the past decade, with no government able to pass it successfully in Parliament till date. The Congress party demanded the resignation of Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia for their controversial role in facilitating the visa for the ailing wife of the well-networked cricket impresario Lalit Modi.

Sushma Swaraj took on Sonia Gandhi head-on, taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi the scion of India’s most famous political dynasty and Congress vice- president, asking him to find out how much money did his mother get from Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochi in the Bofors case and why did his father let the culprit of the Bhopal gas tragedy leave the country. Swaraj’s diatribe alluded to the suspected role of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in allowing of the then Union Carbide President Anderson to leave the country, the corporate behemoth responsible for the colossal human tragedy that killed and maimed thousands. Rahul Gandhi retorted by saying, “Sushma Swaraj couldn’t even look into my eyes” and asked her why she was discreet about helping Lalit Modi.

The session seems unlikely to pass any major legislation on August 13, the last working day of the Parliament in the monsoon session. It is left to be seen whether the government will ask for a joint sitting of Parliament after the session to pass the major GST legislation or will it wait for the winter session to pass the legislation just before the deadline of April 2016.

The stalling of the monsoon session by a pugnacious opposition has been a hugely costly affair for the nation. This sterile slanging match has cost the nation a loss of Rs 260 crore (over $40 million USD) as one hours session in Lok Sabha (upper house) costs around a quarter million dollar (Rs 1.5 crore) and one hour of Rajya Sabha costs Rs 1.1 crore.

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