MPs lack a sense of purpose, visitors to Parliament say

New Delhi:  "Certainly disappointing" is how a neatly dressed young man from Chandigarh responded as he came out of the parliament visitors' gallery after witnessing noisy protests in the Lok Sabha over the Women's Reservation Bill.

"They [MPs] lack a sense of purpose. Politics is a means to achieve certain goals, not the goal in itself. All they are doing is just politics, vote bank politics," said a disgruntled Aakansh Singh, a probationary officer of the Indian Revenue Service.

Course

Some 135 young officers, men and women, of the 63rd batch of the Indian Revenue Service had come to tour parliament on Tuesday to watch the proceedings. The trip, which ended in disappointment, was part of their course.

Singh was referring to the behaviour of the MPs who were protesting the government's move to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in all legislatures. The bill was finally passed by the Rajya Sabha, the upper house on Tuesday — and awaits the Lok Sabha's nod.

"Democracy is a battle of ideas, but crossing decency is certainly not democracy. It is hooliganism. This floor is for debates and countering arguments. You win, if you have a stronger view, but you ought not to flex muscles and vocal chords. It is indecency," the young officer told media, as his batch mates agreed. Ankita from Chhattisgarh couldn't hide her disappointment.

"I am not surprised. This is only too well known — how our MPs behave in parliament. The whole nation is used to it."

The group had permission to watch the proceedings for an hour, but noisy protests and slogan shouting by members of the Janata Dal-United, the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal against the Women's Reservation Bill forced Speaker Meira Kumar to adjourn the Lok Sabha until 2pm on Monday.