Money talks; it also gags. A 2014-fixated BJP’s muteness on the gas-pricing issue proves that. In the world’s largest and noisiest democracy, high-decibel debates on decisions made—and those not made—by the government are only to be expected. That’s why, perhaps, the silence by the principal opposition party about the gas price hike by the UPA raises such a stink. By now, its mahila morcha should have hit the streets, while its main leaders would have invaded our drawing rooms via TV. Yet, the loud silence sounds like a neat compact between the ruling party and the BJP (with the exception of the Left, the AIADMK and a smattering). What’s going on? A handful of senior leaders in conjunction with Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi—now heading the BJP campaign committee—decided that the party couldn’t afford to oppose the policy, given the short span of time left before the 2014 polls. The hypocrisy is immediately evident—look at how quickly the BJP opposed the Right to Food ordinance, on the ground of parliamentary propriety. Why has it not thought it fit to ask the government to debate the gas pricing issue on the floor of the House? “The silence is conspiratorial and almost like the main opposition party is rallying around UPA. It is like the opposition by the political parties to the directive of coming under the ambit of the Right to Information Act,” says Madabhushi Sridhar, professor of law at nalsar Hyderabad. A few months ago, Arvind Kejriwal of the fledgling Aam Admi Party had held a press conference, accusing the government of buckling to the pressure of RIL by shunting out its Union petroleum minister Jaipal Reddy as he had opposed a price hike. Today, Kejriwal says he is not at all surprised at the silence that envelops the media and political parties. “I wonder if the electronic media is the main culprit in shutting out debates on the issue. There has been no single discussion on such a crucial topic,” says he. “The silence is intriguing,” agrees Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president, Centre for Policy Research and a columnist with the Indian Express. “At one level, it is easy to talk about ownership of the media and the self-imposed silence among the political parties. There is such a huge context to the entire debate on the pricing of natural resources, and yet there is no sign of protest,” he adds. It is also, he points out, a simple political story to follow. Sadly, there is ample evidence to show that this is a story that many in politics and media simply don’t want to follow.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 19:53:46 +0000
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