The ongoing Assembly session seems headed towards logjam with the treasury benches and the opposition National Conference and Congress again differing over the issues to be discussed in the house. While NC and Congress wanted a debate over the Article 35A which has been challenged by an RSS-backed NGO in Supreme Court, and the other legislators including Engineer Rashid want discussion on beef ban in the state, the government has accused them of violating the norms laid for the conduct of business in the Assembly. Following the ruckus which rose to a crescendo when two NC members Altaf Kaloo and Majeed Larni rushed to the well of house, the Speaker Kavinder Gupta swiftly moved to suspend them for the rest of the session. The suspension which triggered prompt NC boycott of the Assembly has since been revoked. But the proceedings in the house look none the better for it.
The tug of war is primarily between the ruling PDP and the opposition NC. NC has brought in a bill against the ban on beef in the state. But the party hasnt shown enough eagerness to get the government to allow a discussion on the issue and ensure that it is put to vote. Nor is PDP-BJP coalition in the mood to do so. The Legislative Assembly Secretariat has sent the anti-beef bills to states Home Ministry which has to take a stand on them in the House on Thursday. The bills have been listed at tail end in an ostensible move to prevent a discussion. The Supreme Court order suspending the ban for two months has come on a cue to enable the government to deflect attention from this sensitive issue.
In the consequent stalemate, even this session looks set to go the way of the previous sessions in the state. The parties follow a set pattern to steer clear of the discussion on the sensitive issues. Be it the resolution for clemency on Afzal Guru or the discussion on Article 35A or for that matter the enactment of a new law on beef ban, all parties enact an elaborate drama to sabotage the issue.
True, the ruckus and the drama in Assembly is important for the operation of the democracy. That is, if the intent is to substantively contribute to good governance in the state. For both PDP and NC to live up to their primary role of providing a better governance to the state, they will not only have to be bitterly at odds with each other and hold each other to account but also think of ways to work together and ensure the assembly sessions transact some important business and address the issues of the day. But the way the successive house sessions in the state have gone over the past some years, there is a lot that the political parties need to do to find some meeting ground. The best option should be for the government to make an honest effort to take the opposition into confidence and as far as possible accommodate their concerns. And in the instant case, it is the discussion of the beef ban, Article 35A and the issues like regularization of daily-wage workers and the NYC youth that need attention. After all, there seems to be no reason why the government should shy away from a discussion of these issues. If new law on beef ban is a sensitive issue, nothing should prevent the speaker to let the Assembly deliberate it.
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