Frosty and bitter: On Parliament, the government and the Opposition
The first winter session of 18th Lok Sabha ended on December 20 as one of the least productive and most acrimonious in history. The conflict between the government and the Opposition degenerated into a scuffle on the penultimate day, followed by absurd allegations and police reports. The Opposition sent a notice for a motion of no confidence in Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar, which was rejected by the Deputy Chairman. The acrimony peaked with the Opposition turning a reference by Home Minister Amit Shah to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar into a stick to beat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with. Mr. Shah’s misspoken remarks were taken out of context by the Opposition which feels that it is par for the course. After all, the BJP had made ridiculous allegations about th...