Floor test

AS the Winter Session of Parliament begins today, avoiding a repeat of the Monsoon Session, one of the least productive in the country’s parliamentary history, should be the NDA floor managers' priority. Some senior BJP ministers have reached out to the Opposition ranks, but the government's wholesome focus on the Goods and Services Tax legislation — where the disruption of proceedings is likely to be projected as an attempt to forestall a national project — could well undercut any gains made from the conciliatory moves. The key economic reform is stuck in the Rajya Sabha, where an Opposition buoyed by the Bihar results is unlikely to relent easily on a strategy borrowed entirely from the BJP during the UPA years — disrupt for the sake of disruption. The onus for ensuring a productive session, thus, lies with the government. It has to make the first move, and the second one, too. That requires working towards a political compromise on the proposed GST.

The government’s test begins on the first day itself. It has dedicated two days to celebrating BR Ambedkar’s 125th birth anniversary, through a discussion on the Constitution. The Congress is keen to use that time to discuss intolerance and a breakdown in law and order. The Dadri lynching, the BJP’s inability to rein in Hindutva hotheads and the rising prices of pulses are likely to feature prominently. For the BJP, assuaging voices of concern would make a lot more sense than aggressive confrontation. A tu-tu-main-main spectacle at the very outset would portend another washout.

A total of 38 Bills are awaiting parliamentary approval. Getting the less contentious ones passed first, and working behind the scenes on the GST, could be one way of breaking the possible logjam. Legislation on cheque bounce cases and creation of commercial divisions in high courts, for instance, would not face Opposition filibuster. The Opposition, on its part, would be highly mistaken it if concludes that the Bihar vote has given it a mandate to disrupt. If civilised debates seem too fanciful, debates with the customary frills will do. It is far better than not having one at all.