The good of the nation lies in the age-old system

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday appealed to the Speaker in the Legislative Assembly to expunge from the record of the House the unparliamentary words or remarks he (Umar) used during his speech on Tuesday. He expressed regret that in his anger he uttered some words which were not in keeping with the dignity and decency of the House. Therefore, these words should not form part of the record of the House.

He also appealed to the main opposition BJP to withdraw the abusive words uttered by its MLAs against the Abdullah family or Health and Medical Education Minister Sakina Ittu. Requesting the BJP MLAs to end the protest inside the House, Omar said that he considers himself the Chief Minister of the entire Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, not just the Kashmir region. In this regard, he wants the Jammu region to be discussed in the proceedings of the House with the same fervor as the Kashmir issue. This is not possible without the cooperation of the BJP. Due to this, the BJP MLAs should also show interest in dialogue instead of confrontation. It is a matter of satisfaction that the humility shown by Omar Abdullah got an immediate response and the functioning of the House returned to normal.

Contrary to such complacency, what is happening in the Lok Sabha is truly regrettable. While participating in the debate on the Union Budget on Wednesday, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, instead of speaking on the Budget, used the platform of the debate to level allegations against the Prime Minister and did not consider it appropriate to respect the parliamentary etiquette and tradition of presenting evidence for the allegations he leveled. The slander he also targeted at Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri was like calling Mr. Puri a 'miscreant'.

Rahul Gandhi is in a combative mood these days. Therefore, the combination of passion and sense cannot be expected from him. However, he has often accused the ruling party of not allowing him to speak in Parliament. It is a different matter that whenever he speaks, he does not abide by the parliamentary rules. Due to this, most of his speeches do not become part of the record of the House. It is true that the Bharatiya Janata Party is also not a milk-washer in this regard. Its members like Nishikant Dubey often reach the point of absurdity and even the attempts of the party leaders to keep them within the ambit of cleanliness are not made sincerely.

Yet, despite such shortcomings and blunders, the Leader of the Opposition is expected to remain calm and present his side in a balanced manner instead of making accusations and slander. Rahul has not shown any inclination to fit into such a mold yet. It is also true that the conduct or some of the rulings of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla have been creating a partisan impression due to which a no-confidence motion notice has been given against him by 118 members. Despite this, the observance of rules within the House should not be set aside on the ground that the conduct of the Presiding Officer is allegedly partisan.

Birla's decision to stay away from the proceedings of the House after the said notice is morally correct. His approach of not rejecting the said notice despite the technical errors in it and giving the concerned party an opportunity to rectify these errors also falls within the ambit of correctness. However, it is also strange that the no-confidence notice, which had the signatures of 118 MPs, had the year 2025 written in place of 2026 in four places. If not a single member catching this mistake is a sign of lack of diligence among our lawmakers, then what else is it?

Ensuring a sense of responsibility and accountability within the Parliament or the legislative houses of the states is an equal responsibility of the opposition as well as the ruling party. Many legislative experts and scholars believe that the responsibility of the ruling party is greater. They are of the opinion that the legislative house is the only platform available to the opposition parties where they can effectively oppose the government policies, decisions and steps. They should be given ample opportunities for such opposition because opposition sometimes proves to be a good guide to correcting government mistakes.

On the other hand, the opposition also has a duty to point out the government's shortcomings instead of limiting itself to accusations or curses. Recent history shows that the Rahul Gandhi style of opposition has not worked for the Congress or its allies in the electoral arena so far, nor are there any signs of it working in the near future. On the other hand, the ruling party also has a duty to learn a lesson from Omar Abdullah's strategy. Humbly accepting mistakes is a sign of greatness, not weakness.