Gandhi had visualized the maladies of Parliamentary System

In 1909, in his seminal work Hind Swaraj Mahatma Gandhi explained the limitations of Parliamentary democracy by saying that, “I prayed to God that India might never be in that plight.”He added that the British Parliament had not yet, of its own accord done a single good thing. He compared it to a sterile woman. Because the natural condition of that Parliament is such that, without outside pressure, it can do nothing. Because of this helplessness of Parliament he compared, it with ‘sterile women and prostitute’ Exactly after 99 years his apprehensions have proved to be true. It is no secret that majority of the M. Ps. are against Indo-US nuclear deal. Even the ruling Party is divided on this issue. But the Indian Parliament, the supreme legislative body can not take an initiative on this issue. It has to depend on a government which does not feel accountable to the people who have elected it.
When Gandhi wrote Hind Swaraj, the British Parliament was supposed to be studded with best gems of British civil society. They were projected to be serving the people selflessly. Like Indian M. Ps. they did not have criminal background. They were not convicted for heinous crimes like murder, rape, kidnapping, financial bungling, human trafficking etc. They did not take bribe for asking questions in the Parliament. They were not convicts and did not contest elections from prisons. They could not be bought and sold as is possible in India today. Indian members of Parliament and of state legislatures blatantly indulge in all kinds of illegal activities. To day (22nd July 2008) when Manmohan Singh was seeking vote of confidence, three BJP MPs accused the ruling party and its ally party of bribing them for absconding from the session of the Lok Sabha. But Gandhi was not impressed with the honesty and integrity of members of British Parliament. He thought the members of British Parliament as “hypocritical and selfish. Each thinks of his own little interest….” One shudders to think of Gandhi’s views about people’s representatives in India. How unhappy he would have been with their degeneration.
The members of British Parliament were not notorious for not attending the parliament. In India people’s representatives, as a matter of habit , remain absent from the sessions of their respective houses. Often the house is adjourned for lack of quorum. The Mahatma was still critical of the British M. Ps’ behaviour in the parliament. Without mincing words he wrote, “ When the greatest questions are debated its members have been seen to stretch themselves and to doze.” He felt the binding of following party line on the M.Ps was an obstruction in the way of their taking a stand for common good. “Their so-called discipline binds them to it. If any member, by way of exception, gives an independent vote he is considered a renegade” he bemoaned. He thought the, “ Parliament is simply a costly toy of the nation”. How costly is Indian Parliament is worth researching.
Explaining the relationship between executive and legislature under the parliamentary democracy Gandhi wrote that the, “ Parliament is without a real master. Under the Prime Minister, its movement is not steady, but it is buffeted about like a prostitute. The Prime Minister is more concerned about his power than about the welfare of Parliament. His energy is concentrated upon securing the success of his party. His care is not always that Parliament shall do right. Prime Ministers are known to have made Parliament do things merely for party advantage. All this is worth thinking over.”
The history of Parliamentary democracy in India has only confirmed Gandhi’s criticism. We had one Party dominant democracy for about 45 years. There was no democracy within the dominant ruling party. The Parliament virtually became a rubber stamp in the hands of its strong Prime Ministers. For the last two decades we have coalition governments. The Parliaments have become most suitable platform for all kinds of unfair deals for coming to power and for retaining power. During the National Democratic Alliance rule under the leadership of Vajpayee the biggest alliance partner the BJP made all kinds of compromises to accommodate the small regional parties. The government had one- point- programme to complete the 5- year- term and it took credit for the same. None of the alliance partners had the people’s interests in their agenda. Hence, they did not object to NDA government dancing to the tune of foreign capital and foreign technology. The electorate exercised its right to vote discreetly and defeated the NDA in elections. The Congress Party which got maximum no. of seats and formed the United Progressive Alliance. This alliance also made all sorts of compromises with small regional parties. One of the major compromises was giving ministerial births to M.Ps. with criminal background. To camouflage its real intensions the UPA formed common minimum programme .During last four years of its rule the common minimum programme was given mere lip service by the government. Like its predecessor it was also protecting and promoting the interests of foreign capital and foreign technology. The Indo –US Nuclear deal is also meant to provide vast Indian market to US nuclear technology industries. The differences with the UPA partners on this issue has compelled the government to look for support from other quarters. Naturally the support would come for a price. The UPA government is using all kinds of techniques to garner majority support. Gandhiji had no illusion about the Prime Minister’s office. He commented that, “ what I have seen leads me to think that they cannot be considered really patriotic. If they are to be considered honest because they do not take what are generally known as bribes. let them 'be so considered, but they are open to subtler influences. In order to gain their ends, they certainly bribe people with honors. I do not hesitate to say that they have neither real honesty nor a living conscience.” To day the transnational corporations have become so strong that all heads of the state and heads of the governments all over the world are protecting and promoting the interests of these corporations. Gandhi ji noticed this . he concluded his chapter in Hind Swaraj by saying that, “ It is not due to any peculiar fault of the English people, but the condition is due to modern civilization. It is a civilization only in name. Under it the nations of Europe are becoming degraded and ruined day by day.” Gandhi was not alone in pin pointing the weaknesses of the Parliamentary system. M.N. Roy and Jayaprakash Narayan also could foresee its minus points. The need of the hour is to remedy the maladies and make it a truely representative body.