Unedifying spectacle

Sir, - The country recently witnessed the unedifying spectacle of the paralysis of its supreme legislative body, the Lok Sabha, for continuous six days due to the stalling tactics adopted by the opposition. The Rajya Sabha also could not transact any business for nine days for the same reason. If the leaders of the community do not behave in a disciplined way, there is no chance of the community at large to be any better in that respect. Apart from the huge cost involved in the sitting of the two Houses, the disruption of legislative business should cause serious concern to the people.

A disconcerting aspect of the politics pursued by our politicians is that none of them appears to have any idea of what should or could be done if the present government fell due to their tactics in Parliament. During the political crisis in 1998 the CPI(M) which was in the forefront of pulling down the government used to say, ``let the government fall, then we can see what could be done''. Tragically, the government did fall and the party could do nothing to put in place another combination of parties to form a government and the country faced a general election. It has to be noted that we have already had three general elections since 1996 and a fourth one could be a grim reality if the present government should fall. The people are fed up with frequent general elections besides the huge cost to the exchequer. The parties should therefore take into account the arithmetic of the strength of the parties in Parliament and ponder seriously the consequences of any step that could lead to another election.

T. R. Anandan,

Coimbatore (TN)

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