Adjourned till noon: Episodes from the great Indian parliamentary circus

By Sreyashi Mazumdar

Bizarreness and frivolity, these two words are hand in glove with our country's parliamentarians'- the representatives of people who are supposed to behold responsibilities and wisdom, unlike the plebeians. Taking into consideration the opposition's hammy protests in the recent past, and its vociferous attempt at being the soul vanguards of the poor, one might end up inferring the parliament as a circus wherein politicians take to every outrageous and horrid means to scuttle the expected decorum on the floor of the house.

While paging through the snippets of hamminess in Parliament or words unleashed by our political leaders, one is reminded of the classic episode of hullabaloo that broke out last year while UPA 2, the then government at the helm of affairs, tabled the Telangana bill. Rajagopal, a man bearing high regards for decorum, one who endorses nothing but prudence and sagacity, ended up unleashing a bottle of pepper spray as a mark of reverence for his opponents who were hell bent on introducing the Bill.

The maverick was an MP of the TDP and in an attempt at protesting the Bill, he thought of taking to judicious means and ended up spraying pepper spray which not only vexed the continuity of the house but also ended up harming his colleagues. Our dear parliamentarians even went to the extent of uprooting microphones and using shards of broken glass to threaten the party in power.

Thinking of a high voltage drama, how can one forget Tapas Paul's heart-wrenching statement on women. The actor turned TMC MP who has often been seen crooning away to cocky Bengali songs, in an attempt at taking a dig at his party's arch rival, went to the extent of donning a Satanist role and rolled out his methods of salvation in a bid to ensure his female party members' security in the wake of increasing attacks on them.

Introspecting on the dire condition, he stood his ground and called for an immediate action, " If any CPI-M man dares to touch anybody, I will take out my gun and shoot him. I warn my opponents …I will ask my boys to go there, they will rape them and leave them," said the thoughtful Paul, a woman's soul saviour.

If one talks of the grand episodes of Indian parliament, one might surely recall the recent fall out that shook viewers testifying a BJP MLA's vehement attempt at supporting his party's stance on Najeeb Jung, the Lt. Governor of Delhi. The scene was nothing less than a labyrinth, with our leaders laughing at a distorted scene, with marshals throwing out BJP MLA Om Prakash, owing to his stand on Alka Lamba's comment on Najeeb Jung.

The heady leader was irked by Alka Lamba's comment on Najeeb Jung, according to whom, Najeeb Jung must have paid a hefty amount to the ruling government for his appointment. In order to further add to the flamboyance, the members of the legislative assembly were found laughing their lungs out at the buffoonery.

Toeing on a similar scene, SP MP Naresh Agarwal's and BSP MP Avtar Singh Karimpuri's blockbuster fist fight in the Lok Sabha over a Bill seeking to provide reservation for SC/STs in government jobs was in no way less than a melodrama etched with spice and action scenes worthy enough to be hooted at.

Our beloved leaders should understand and should learn to grasp the real meaning of decorum and scuttle their attempts at being buffoons. Sound deliberations and introspection might turn out to be a better option, hopefully someday they might mull over the same.