It’s going to be a noisy monsoon session: Rajya Sabha Vice-Chairman Sasmit Patra

Sasmit Patra

The upcoming Monsoon Session of the Parliament is likely to be a noisy one, with political parties positioning themselves for the upcoming state and general elections, according to Sasmit Patra, Vice-Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

“I think it’s going to be a noisy house,” Patra, who is also the Biju Janata Dal’s whip in the Rajya Sabha, told Moneycontrol in an interview. “My hunch is that the opposition parties like Congress especially and people aligning around it … I think Karnataka has been a shot in the arm. They kind of smelled blood. So they want to come in heavy.”

Congress won the recently-concluded elections in Karnataka, pushing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party out of power from the sole southern state it ruled. The key states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are due to go to the polls towards the end of this year and the country will vote to elect its next government in early 2024.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity remains high but the opposition parties are upbeat after the Karnataka elections. A new opposition formation may emerge after a crucial meeting of several parties in Patna on June 23. The Biju Janata Dal, to which Sasmit Patra belongs, claims to be neither with BJP nor Congress.

Increasing acrimony between the treasury and opposition benches has resulted in multiple adjournments, with bills being passed without discussion. During the latest Budget Session, the Lok Sabha recorded productivity of 34 percent, while the Rajya Sabha saw a mere 24 percent of productivity.

The Budget Session witnessed the least amount of time spent on questions, in the current Lok Sabha. Question Hour functioned for 19 percent of the scheduled time in the Lok Sabha and 9 percent in the Rajya Sabha.

Patra rues the fact that friendships across the party lines have reduced, as a result of which running the Parliament has become difficult.

“Somewhere we are talking to each other less and we put the onus on the chairman to conduct the house, which I think is unfair,” he said.

More dialogue is the solution. When parties do not speak with each other before the session, the chair cannot do much to facilitate a discussion.

“Unless you have had rounds of discussions before the house commences, you will always have a stalemate, especially in an election year.”

Disruption of parliamentary proceedings is not a new phenomenon. Sessions before general elections have historically been noisy since political parties want to position themselves.

“I just hope on some critical bills, we have unanimity for discussion. If what happened during the budget session happens now … it will be a waste of time,” Patra said.