PM’s reply over Prez motion was mundane

It is evident that the debate on the motion of thanks to the President’s address at the beginning of Parliament’s Budget Session has waned in quality. Time was when witty and thoughtful exchanges would educate the country. The Prime Minister’s reply was something to look forward to. On Tuesday, the PM held the floor for a lengthy period in the Lok Sabha, but in general Mr Modi appeared to lose himself in reeling out small data about the presumed success of some of his government’s schemes, and in seeking to belittle the Congress Party. There can be said to have been few standout moments. Political barbs against the BJP’s main opponent seemed to sum up the PM’s efforts without much explication of government policy.

The President’s address aims to sum up the principal thrust of government policy in different fields and point to the future. The debate on the address is a perfect moment for Parliament to dissect official policy, for the ruling party’s opponents to question and criticise, and the government to not only amplify but also provide insights and nuance.

Mr Modi’s reply did not even attempt to rise to those levels. It was mundane. Many things said were a rehash of thoughts and words articulated over and over again on the campaign trail and in Parliament itself by the PM, for instance his reference to his government offering a neem coating to urea sold to farmers so that urea stocks may not be diverted to the black market.

Those who might have expected to hear something from the PM himself on the issue of “surgical strikes” against terrorists across the Line of Control, on which so much controversy has centred, had their hopes dashed. The best Mr Modi could do was to praise the valour of our Army. It is time leading lights of the executive shed empty generalities and offered specific answers to questions, and firm ideas relating to policy and its implementation.

On the issue of demonetisation, BJP leaders as well as senior elements in the Narendra Modi government have so far not gone beyond asserting that Congress governments had attempted nothing — factually an unsustainable proposition, even if those efforts did not yield much — to roll back black money. The PM took the same tack in the Lok Sabha. He rhetorically went on about his government’s war on corruption. On the question of demonetisation, every single question that came up in the House in the debate went unanswered. The PM didn’t even bother giving data for how much of the old currency had been returned to the banks or what this implied for his policy. Governments really need to give a better account of themselves in legislatures.