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   Bill to Skirt Office of Profit

 

The Government is planning on a Bill that will amend the Prevention of Disqualification of the MPs Act 1959—commonly known as the Office of Profit act, to enable many communist allies and Congress politicians to hold on to their offices of profit. 

The issue started when a Congressman, disgruntled because of his Lok Sabha election loss to Samajwadi Party Jaya Bachan, complained to President Abdul Kalam that she holds an Office of Profit and hence should be disqualified from the Parliament. The President referred the matter to the Election Commission who ruled that Bachan did violate the Office of Profit Act and hence should resign from one of them. 

The Samajwadi Party leadership, disgruntled from having to lose several other such plump positions and also because their supposed ally Congress did not come to their aid, complained to the President about Sonia Gandhi occupying an Office of Profit. They were referring to her being the Chairman of the National Advisory Council (NAC), a position often derogatorily referred to as the True Prime Minister or Super Prime Minister. Among a lot of chaos, the Parliament was adjourned sine die till March 22 when Gandhi announced her resignation both from the Lok Sabha and the NAC Chairmanship.

In the meanwhile, firebrand West Bengal politician and leader of the Trinamool Congress accused that several communist politicians, including Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, occupied such positions. A petulant and infuriate Chatterjee was breathing fire and bristling at the suggestion now refuses to take the Chair of the Speaker till the issue is resolved. 

Not happy with Kalam’s ruling, Bachan took the matter to the Supreme Court (SC), which again ruled that it does not matter if she did not take money or whether position was lucrative, but what mattered was that she was holding two positions at once and that was a conflict of interest. The SC said that Kalam’s ruling was correct.

With the Parliamentary special session in progress, instead of debating the issue to form a new legislation, the Government is planning to introduce a bill that would largely benefit politically strengthened communists who constantly need appeasement. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi says that legislation is not necessary because the Cabinet has authorized the Law Minister Bharadwaj and Defense Minister and Government’s Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee to consult all parties. 

Sanctioning in effect a backroom deal, the Government will hand out favors to all coalition member parties. The most contentious one is the NAC Chairmanship as it is viewed as a position that belittles the Prime Minister.

vA letter written by Gandhi before she resigned from her NAC Chairmanship warning Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in progress with any Asian countries has created a new controversy. Not being happy with Singh’s assuring letter that the FTAs will not infringe on farmers’ livelihoods, the letter was leaked a day before her reelection. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded that Singh resign because the letter and the insensitive leak have trivialized his office.

A Government fire-fighting team wants to characterize this letter as ‘routine.’ Even if this position is accepted, it is impossible to justify the leak. Instead of the demanding Singh’s resignation, the BJP should be demanding a debate in the Parliament and also try to define the scope, purpose, and necessity of the NAC. That would be a better service to the country.