Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has his task cut out for him
With the election of M Venkaiah Naidu as the Vice President of the country, the tone is set for the functioning of Parliament for the next five years. Naidu's term at the helm of affairs will be crucial — besides being the Vice President he will also be the chairman of the Rajya Sabha. His role, therefore, is all the more pivotal as the Rajya Sabha is not only the chamber for representing and protecting the rights of the citizens, but also offers a platform for a ‘second' or ‘wiser' opinion to be aired on contentious issues that matter most to the country. Given his vast political career, it is expected that he will make an excellent Chairman of the Upper House. Known as a person of amicable, he enjoys friendly relations with leaders across the political spectrum. Being a three-time MP (now in his fourth term) from the Rajya Sabha, Naidu has good understanding of the functioning of the House and also that of parliamentary procedures.
Besides, Naidu has a good sense of humour and believes in diversity of opinions. Being in-charge of one of the repository of biggest law-making, Naidu has enormous tasks at hand. First, he has to ensure careful scrutiny of legislations coming before the Upper House. The BJP, though it had the numbers in lok Sabha, lagged behind in the upper House due to which it was not able to tackle frequent confrontations that marred the working of the House. However, the feather on the cap for the BJP is that the numbers have slowly stacked up in its favour — it now has 58 seats in its kitty. Ever since the BJP Government took over, disruptions and dismissals had blemished the functioning of the Rajya Sabha. A hostile Opposition, which had the numbers in the upper House virtually ensured that the House means no business. With frequent protests and disruptions there was hardly any legislative business conducted due to which the fate of many crucial Bills were in limbo. Having a clean majority in the Rajya Sabha and also with Naidu at the helm of affairs, it is now expected that the House will speed up the legislative business. However, as Chairman of the House, Naidu must ensure that a particular piece of legislation undergoes the due constitutional procedure — it must be thoroughly scrutinised and debated before being passed.
Second, Naidu will have to undertake the much-needed reforms to overhaul the working procedures of the House. The importance of these reforms lies with the fact that they must ensure greater accountability of the Government, favour a healthy debating atmosphere and minimise disruption of proceedings.
The third and biggest facing of him will be that of playing a non-partisan role in managing the affairs of the House. Surely, having deep roots with the BJP since 1967, when he first joined the student wing of the party, and being a consistent advocate of the party, Naidu must play a bipartisan role when he takes charge. As the custodian of the Upper House, he will be judged on how effectively he handles the functioning of the House. The Pioneer wishes Naidu good luck for his new post ahead.