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So many questions. And there is only one answer the government could give for taking care of them all.
If the President delays signing the Bill, should government quietly acquiesce or should it confront the President? Even create a constitutional crisis? In the event of MPs being unseated by the EC, should byelections be held as an ongoing process? Or, should a depleted Parliament await the unseating of all, and then go in for a collective byelection? If the Left parties threaten to withdraw support because of delay in the Office of Profit Act and the President insists on delay, what should the government do?
Should Union defence minister Pranab Mukherjee and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar stall for time or promptly give replies to questionnaires already sent to them by the EC related to the Office of Profit law? How many unseated MPs under the Office of Profit Act could actually reclaim their seats in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha the way Sonia Gandhi did effortlessly?
Will the Enforcement Directorate’s chargesheet against former external affairs minister Natwar Singh lead to complications about the Congress party’s being itself named in the Volcker report?
Will the arrests and the chargesheets in the navy’s war room leak and the Scorpene submarine case have a connection to throw up some new disclosures that could rock the government?
Should the appointment of a minister to replace Natwar Singh be delayed further? Or, should he be appointed immediately, disregarding rivalries among senior party leaders? Should the minister for external affairs be a singular appointment, or part of a full cabinet reshuffle? If a full reshuffle, should it not take place when parliament is not in session?
Populist rhetoric apart, should the government actually go ahead with the radical reservation quota bill before institutes of higher learning and private industries have laid proper foundations?
Having announced the Sixth Pay Commission, is the government ready with the money needed to implement its recommendations?
There could be many more questions during this session for which the government might have to find answers. However, there is one answer the government could give for taking care of all questions. It could create conditions for a snap poll. Will the government be driven to do that in this session?
(Puri can be reached at rajinderpuri2000@yahoo.com)