Parliament and People Drift in Waves of Politics
Image credit X @OmBirla
It may not be even stupid to ask, why not just have two sessions of parliament—Budget and Winter.
By MANISH ANAND
NEW DELHI, August 22, 2025 — The Monsoon session of parliament ended yesterday after painful days of din and dance of narrow politics. Prime Minister Narendra Modi walked into the Lok Sabha in those last few seconds of the session when Speaker Om Birla was counting achievements of the lower house of parliament.
At the end of the Monsson session of parliament, the people may even wonder what was the purpose for which two Houses were convened. Two legislative businesses by hogging headlines indeed reminded the people that parliament was in session.
Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah piloted a set of bills which aim to top political officials from their offices if they spend 30 days or more in jails after arrests in serious crimes. Critics have quantified Opposition leaders jailed during the tenure of the incumbent government at the Centre led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to understand the motif of the legislation.
Congress’ Shashi Tharoor, currently caught in the whirlwind of personal aspirations in politics, thought that the bills were genuine in intent. Tharoor, a social media star, has been accused of “intellectual dishonesty” in not seeing the “true intent of the bills.”
The bill to ban betting and gambling sailed through both houses of parliament smoothly. One may wonder why the government had been oblivious of mushrooming of online betting and gambling all these years. Only after a generation of the people, including teenagers, were addicted to betting and gambling, the government invites criticism of waking up to the grave challenges poses by businessmen thugs.
Else, Monsoon session of parliament was all about the treasury and the Opposition playing “hide and seek” game. Yet the session will find space in history books for the manner in which former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar resigned from the office after day-long work in the Rajya Sabha and since then disappearing from the public scrutiny. The session gave minefield of scripts for mystery stories.
The people in the country are battling many challenges, which may be unknown to parliamentarians. They are facing a crisis in accessing affordable and quality healthcare and education. This has been flagged by none other than Mohan Bhagwat, the big daddy of the ruling BJP and the chief of the RSS.
Farmers have been restive for want of fertilizers. Claims of nano fertilizers with promises of revolution vanished like a burning camphor in the ongoing Monsoon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s unveiling of a job scheme in his speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort was a belated admission that unemployment is now wild and defying bureaucrats’ abilities to work out statistics.
But Monsoon session of parliament couldn’t mind checking the pulse of the people. Comforts of members of parliament with assured salaries, pensions, and tickets to contest elections seem drifting them away from the people. It may not be even stupid to ask, why not just have two sessions of parliament—Budget and Winter.
(This is an opinion piece, and views expressed are those of the author only)
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