Acrimony in legislature

The Telangana legislature is witnessing acrimonious debates. This is quite contrary to the experience of the first session. A spirit of accommodation and reconciliation characterised the first session. But, the honeymoon between the ruling and the opposition parties seems to be over. In fact, the AP legislature witnessed similar scenes in the first session itself.

The contrast in the two sessions only reflects the changing political landscape in Telangana. Earlier, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao called for political unity for heralding a new phase in the history of Telangana. But, now, he is talking about political realignment to achieve ‘Golden Telangana.’ The so-called political realignment is nothing but a euphemism for his political engineering. Obviously, the opposition is in no mood to tolerate this calculated attempt by the ruling party to decimate it by encouraging defections. It has realised that it will be further strangled, if it remains quiet.

During the first session, the opposition in fact hesitated to attack the government. The reason is simple. The state was newly formed. The leader and the party, who led the movement for the separate state, are at the helm of affairs. The people have confidence in him. Any attack on the ruling party at an early date may prove to be counterproductive. But, much water has flown down the Musi since the first session. The acute power crisis is taking a heavy toll on economy and livelihoods. The government’s refusal even to acknowledge the suicides by farmers, the chaos in implementing welfare schemes, and so on are slowly incurring the wrath of the people. The opposition cannot remain silent as people begin to question the party in power.

The ruling party seems to be taking advantage of the fragmented opposition. The treasury benches are often combative. The failure of opposition to launch a spirited attack has only emboldened the ruling party. As the opposition keeps the government in the dock on power crisis, the ruling party is mounting a two-pronged counter attack on the opposition. It argues that the power crisis is the legacy it inherited from the failures of the previous governments. More significantly, the TRS party is cornering the TDP by putting the blame for power crisis in Telangana squarely on Chandrababu Naidu. Leaving aside the fact behind these allegations, the TDP is no longer ready to take it lying down. The ongoing battle between the two Telugu States has turned into a war of words between the TRS and the TDP in Telangana Assembly. Despite internal squabbles, even the Congress is flexing its muscles against the government, as it is losing its legislators to TRS. In a democracy, the legislature is a political house. It reflects the prevailing political chemistry among various political parties. Accepting this reality, one only hopes that public issues are not held hostage to political hostilities.