Raising question on own government
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: August 12, 2024 -

SOCIAL media users and trailers had a field day recently when Th Shayamkumar, an MLA of the ruling BJP in Manipur, grilled Rural Development and Panchayati Raj minister Yumnam Khemchand in the Manipur Legislative Assembly regarding the inordinate delay in implementation of phase-III of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).

In a starred question, MLA Shyamkumar demanded to know when the work on development of the Yairipok-Keithelmanbi Road under PMGSY phase -III would be started as worsening condition of the road, which is one of the main routes leading to Thoubal Barrage and passes through his Andro constituency, has become a cause of widespread resentment among the public with potential of casting a dark shadow on his political career.

Even as the repartee that fol lowed between the MLA and the Minister who belong to the same ruling party was funny enough to be missed by anyone including other members in the treasury bench, some of whom were seen either trying hard to present a straight face or letting out a stifled laugh; insistence of the MLA that the Minister should give a definite deadline rather than giving a vague answer on commencing the work on improving the deplorable road seems to have won the hearts of many people.

The fact that MLA Shyamkumar was not to be taken readily this time by minister Yumnam Khemchand, who was trying his best to give explanation about certain miscommunication gaps with the Finance Department that allegedly led to delay in floating the requisite tender for implementation of the road project, must have resonated with many people as well for the government normally hides behind a pile of explanations when it comes to failure of implementing centrally sponsored schemes and developmental projects in time.

Of course, there is no rule which forbids a member of the ruling party from asking question on his or her own government in the Parliament or the state assemblies.

But as a norm, members of the ruling party or its allies do not dare to raise any question even if it was for eliciting information on matters of public importance as it would put the government in poor light.

So, when such aberrations take place, there is always a sense of disbelief among the opposition members and jittery in the treasury bench.

Nonetheless, there have been instances every now and then in both the Parliament and the state assemblies across the country when the members of the ruling party/parties embarrass their own government by asking some uncomfortable questions, either deliberately or due to ignorance of the "unwritten rules".

In recent memory, at least seven MLAs of the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh puttheir government in an embarrassing situation in the state assembly by levelling allegations of serious irregularities and corruption in the implementation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious 'Jal Jeevan Mission'.

This led to members of the opposition Congress to stage a walkout from the House claiming that the level of corruption in the scheme would be massive as the ruling party MLAs are themselves raising many objections against it, thus, forcing Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar to initiate steps for reviewing progress of the Central government's ambitious project periodically at the state level.

While this was a deliberate act of embarrassing the government, BJP's LokSabha parliamentarian from Mandi, Kangana Ranaut asking the Modi government, "What are we doing to promote Himachali art?' in her first ever speech in the Parliament falls under the latter category of embarrassing own government due to ignorance of the "unwritten rules".

So, to which category should MLA Th Shayamkumar's verbal sparring with Minister Yumnam Khemchand come under? just asking out of pure curiosity.