Both the Houses of Parliament will resume sittings today (March 13) for the second part of the Budget session amid a series of developments that could cast a shadow on its functioning again. The first leg of the session ended a month ago with the combined opposition demanding the constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to go into the Adani episode.
Dhankhar Vs Opposition
Rajya Sabha, in particular, witnessed noisy scenes and towards the end Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar decided to refer to the Privileges Committee, the question of alleged breach of privilege by 12 of its members.
An air of uncertainty now hangs over the session – concluding on April 6 – following the strong observations by the RS Chairman in regard to an MP, which was responded to in equally strong language by the Congress party. Even though the Chairman did not identify the member, it was apparent the reference was to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his recent remarks about the Indian Parliament in the United Kingdom.
Leaders belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have joined issue with Rahul Gandhi and this could continue inside the Houses too. The Chairman’s reference was under relevant rules on grounds that it arose out of gross disorderly conduct by the members violating rules and etiquettes of the House by entering the well, shouting slogans and wilfully obstructing the proceedings.
A Steady Slide
Quite like in the Rajya Sabha now, in 2008 following disruption tactics in the Lok Sabha, the then Speaker Somnath Chatterjee referred 32 MPs, mostly Opposition MPs, to the privileges committee over disorderly conduct.
The then Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition LK Advani and Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee assured the Speaker of full cooperation in running the Lok Sabha prompting Chatterjee to withdraw the reference. Members on the opposition benches had sat with fingers on their lips in line with the NDA decision to remain silent suggesting protest against the action of the Speaker.
Over the past three decades, raising slogans and entering the well of the Houses to protest on developments they want to raise or draw attention to have become standard opposition practice. This has ended several times with Parliament not being able to transact any substantial business. These tactics often come after attempts to raise a contentious issue on the floor of the House, usually through rules that entail voting and hence rarely gets accepted, fails.
Parliament As Protest Site
Almost in every session, members give notices and are informed by the Chair of these not being admitted. Over the years, if a situation of deadlock persisted parliamentary managers from across the aisle worked out a solution by finding a middle ground.
A decade ago, two then Leaders of the Opposition justified the tactics and interpreted disruption as a tool to be employed by those opposed to the government. Not allowing Parliament to function was characterised by one of them as a form of democracy while the other argued that when debate was meant to put a lid on parliamentary accountability, it was for the opposition to expose the government through instruments available at its command.
There are a number of interactions the presiding officers hold with the leaders and members of political parties in Parliament to organise and structure its business, with primacy accorded to the government’s legislative agenda. This is adjusted against the issues members in the opposition want to bring up. The overall approach is guided by a spirit of accommodation.
Finding Middle Ground
Parliament belongs to both – the government and the opposition, the latter striving to oppose, expose and, if possible, depose. The essence of opposition work is captured by British academician and lawyer William Ivor Jennings: “Attacks upon the Government and individual Ministers are the functions of the Opposition. The duty of the Opposition is to oppose. That duty is the major check upon corruption and defective administration. It is also the means by which individual injustices are prevented. This duty is hardly less important than that of the Government. The apparent absurdity that the Opposition asks for parliamentary time to be set aside by the Government in order that the Opposition may censure the Government, is not an absurdity at all. It is the recognition by both sides of the House that the Government governs openly and honestly and that it is prepared to meet criticism…by rational argument.” This quotation forms part of a booklet published by the Rajya Sabha secretariat.
Over the years, reams have been written on loss of Parliament time on account of disruptions. The current session is the penultimate Budget session before Lok Sabha polls in 2024. Recall that Parliament sittings were truncated in 2020 and 2021 on account of COVID. Yet during this period, Parliament passed some 80-odd Bills including the three farm laws that were withdrawn, nearly a year after its passage.
The focus from Monday will be on passage of the Finance Bill so that the new provisions can come into force from the new financial year. With standing committees scrutinising the Demands-for-Grants by various Ministries, Lok Sabha is scheduled to discuss those of Railways, Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Tribal Affairs, Tourism and Culture and Health and Family Welfare.
Standoffs between the government and the opposition of the day have been resolved with both sides arriving at an acceptable formulation to end the logjam. The adage of Parliament has been that the opposition can have its say, the government will have its way. Any breakdown of communication between the two sides would not augur well for parliamentary democracy.
KV Prasad is a senior Delhi-based journalist. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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