Book Excerpt: Prime Minister Narendra Modi cares two hoots about Parliament

Let me begin by sharing with you one of the many anecdotes about Parliament. About a year before the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-II was voted out of power, the Dr Manmohan Singh-led government was gearing up to get a bill passed in the Rajya Sabha (I can’t recall which Bill, but that’s not the important part of the story).

Rajeev Shukla, the then Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, was doing what was expected of him— rustling up everyone in the treasury benches to be present and voting. It was also his brief to ensure that the nominated members like Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar and Bhanurekha Gemini Ganesan, who were otherwise rarely spotted in the House, were present and voting in the Rajya Sabha.

‘Invite me again and I will be here’

Everything went well for the government; the bill was duly passed and Shukla was quite chuffed with himself as we hung around the water dispenser in the lobby of the House. After the proceedings were adjourned for the day, among the MPs who were leaving was the lady herself, Rekha. She stopped in her tracks as the ever-polite and ‘friends-with-all’ minister Rajeev said: ‘Thank you so much for coming today Rekha ji, thanks a lot.’

The Bollywood star turned-MP smiled broadly and replied: ‘It’s my pleasure. No problem. The next time you want me to come, just invite me again and I will be here.’

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When the lady was not within earshot, we chuckled and the minister, in mock disbelief, articulated what all of us were thinking—seriously, you have to invite a fellow MP to be present in Parliament!

‘Modi condescending towards LS, RS’

Perhaps it would be unfair on my part to be harsh on the Bollywood icon-cum-nominated MP who actually believed that she needed to be invited to attend Parliament. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is just as condescending in his relationship with the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Consider this: Modi spent 11 hours and 33 minutes delivering speeches in West Bengal during the 2021 Assembly Elections in the state. But he attended Parliament for less than four hours that year—across the Budget, Monsoon and Winter Sessions.  In effect, the ‘high priest’ of the ‘temple of democracy’ spent about thrice as much time delivering speeches in a state election than attending Parliament in 2021.

Then, for someone who loses no opportunity to declare his undying fealty to the institutions of democracy, Modi has been remarkably remiss in fulfilling his pledge. Prior to almost every session of Parliament, the PM declares rather grandly that the government is ready to face all questions in Parliament. If proof of the kheer is in the eating, the aftertaste in this case has been bitter.

Since Modi became PM, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has answered only 13 questions, compared to 85 questions answered by Dr Manmohan Singh’s office during the previous 10 years of the UPA government. When was the last time the PM answered a question on the floor of Parliament? Monologues on airwaves with a packaged radio programme are no substitute.

PM has a company in Ranjan Gogoi

The PM is in good company. Former Chief Justice of India (CJI), and now Rajya Sabha backbencher, Ranjan Gogoi, also cocks a snook at Parliament. After setting a precedent by becoming the first former CJI to accept a nomination to the Rajya Sabha just four months after his retirement, Gogoi (in)famously said: ‘I go to the Rajya Sabha whenever I feel like it…when I think there are matters of importance on which I should speak […] I go there at my choice, I come out at my choice.’

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Modi and Gogoi are cut from the same cloth. When the head of the government and the former head of the judiciary show such disdain towards Parliament, are you surprised that India has been sliding steadily down the ranks of the Democracy Index since 2014 and is now classified as a ‘flawed democracy’?

But Modi’s less-than-respectful behaviour towards Parliament is not out of character. Its seeds lie in the so-called Gujarat Model of Development (by the way, have you noticed that the PM doesn’t refer to it anymore). When Modi was the chief minister (CM) of Gujarat, the Legislative Assembly in the state had the dubious distinction of meeting the least number of times, lower than under all the previous CMs.

In 2012, after 11 years in power, in spite of having a significantly longer tenure than any of his predecessors, the number of sittings in the Gujarat Assembly was 327, an average of less than 30 sittings a year. Even within the BJP, his predecessor Keshubhai Patel, who was CM for four years and two months, had an average of almost 50 sittings a year.

(Courtesy Rupa Books)

(Derek O’Brien is a politician, author, columnist, television personality, public speaker and quiz show host. The multiple award-winning quizmaster of 30 years is now one of Indian Parliament’s most recognizable faces and a leading and articulate voice of the Opposition. He is a two-time member parliamentarian from West Bengal and leads the TMC in Rajya Sabha.)