On a Sunday morning I woke up to the pleasant news of the Nuke deal proposal being passed by the House of Representatives in US.  I was equally thrilled to watch the overwhelming support for the nuclear deal proposal and the passing of the bill by the House.    Reaching the final stage, the proposal should now be approved by the Senate.  The whole world is now watching in silent anticipation to see what will be the fate of this proposal; whatever be the result I was amazed to note the way voting was carried out in US.   

In an unusual Saturday session the House passed the bill with 298 members voting for the deal and 117 voting against.   The voting was a proof to the fact that members of the house did not stand by party politics instead they went ahead with their firm beliefs in what they considered right or wrong, there were members voting in and against the proposal in the same party be it Democrats or Republicans.  

The voting in US House of Representatives is a victory for conscience since fundamental rights are not violated and it leaves me comparing the voting systems prevailing in India.   In India politicians are driven not by conscience but by party level politics.  The nuclear deal and proceedings surrounding the same aroused my interest; I ended up comparing the functioning styles of political parties in India as well as US. 

In the last few months we have witnessed high intensity drama surrounding the Nuclear Deal proposal.  The Nuke deal as it is commonly known and publicized is a part of the controversial Indo-US deal.  In 1974, after India had tested a nuclear weapon, US had restricted nuclear co-operation with India which led to technology denial and decade’s long isolation from nuclear mainstream.  Under the proposed nuke deal which is the centerpiece of US efforts to bolster ties with India, we can expand our nuclear base without signing the Non Proliferation Treaty and use the nuclear energy for civilian purpose.  In return the civilian nuclear facilities of our country should be opened for inspection.

The deal has been facing stiff opposition from several political parties ruling the country and also back in US.  Citing different reasons such as the Indian Government is deceiving its people by venturing into such an agreement with US, similarly there is a tone of caution from other countries and of course from political parties in US stating that it will set a dangerous precedent and India will expand its nuclear power without signing the Non proliferation treaty as other countries which are supposed to do.  

In India opposition is based on party politics, in the sense – when proposals are brought in by ruling party, they will be opposed by the party which is not in power.  This shows the ugly face of the party level politics.  Instead of seeing what is good for the country or the interests of the nation, politicians resort to cheap gimmicks protesting the proposal on a whole.  Whereas in US when the nuke deal proposal was brought before the congress objection was raised on issue based and not party based, there were people in both the Democratic and Republican parties opposing and supporting the deal.  This is in stark contrast to what we witness in India where political parties issue whips to their members to stand by their party line. It is not the conscience but the party stand that gets the priority here.

Aren’t we violating the fundamental rights?  Can Indian parliamentarian vote on a conscience based mode instead of resorting to narrow party based politics.

Taking cue from voting in US, it is high time political parties in India realize the importance of delving
 deep into the issues before they vehemently criticize or blindly support moves brought in by any ruling party and transcend from party based to issue based politics be in the broader interests of the country and its people who have elected them to power.

Glad to note amidst all the protests, confusions and high dramas the nuke deal has now come to its final stage, we have crossed a hurdle after the 45 nation’s nuclear supplier group had approved the deal.  The House of Representatives has already approved the deal. We are now in the threshold of getting the deal approved by the US senate and Bush’s government is determined to get it done before the completion of his term.