Parliament was adjourned sine die on Friday with near total washout of the second leg of the Budget Session which started on March 5. A determined Opposition did not allow both the Houses to function and transact any business.
Expressing dismay over the State of affairs, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said he was “pained” “to note that it turned out to be an “eminently forgettable one on account of utter disregard of the mandate of this important parliamentary institution and its responsibilities and missed opportunities.” He urged the members belonging to the ruling combine and the opposition to introspect and hoped the monsoon session will be productive.
Echoing similar sentiments lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said the members should keep in mind the larger interest of the nation. “This House is a sacred platform for members to raise issues related to public interest and public welfare,” she said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in the house when she made these observations.
The Rajya Sabha lost nearly three-fourths of its time to disruptions and adjournments. During the second leg of the session, the Rajya Sabha had 30 sittings in all. While it sat for 44 hours, the Upper House lost over 121 hours.
The Question Hour could not be taken up for 27 days “due to pandemonium and interruptions in the House over one or the other issue”, Naidu said, noting that there was a “total breakdown” in communication among various sections of the House that was “at the root of the prolonged stalemate that ruined the session.”
“This is not good for our parliamentary democracy of which our country has come to acquire a pride of place,” he said, adding “we are all losers. This includes the opposition, the ruling party, the Government and most importantly, the people and the nation.”
Referring to the House not transacting any substantial business, Naidu wondered if the fears of those who doubted the need for a Second Chamber during Constituent Assembly debates in 1930s were coming true. He recalled that during these debates on the need for a Council of States, some members feared that it would prove to be “a clog (impediment) in the wheel of progress” involving expenses and not making much contribution.
Jawahar lal Nehru, who headed the Union Constitution Committee for reporting on the structure and function of the future legislature of the country, had feared in 1936 that a Second Chamber will check any forward tendencies of the lower House and will be reactionary, Naidu said. “Are we making Nehru’s worst fear come trueIJ We should not, for the sake of our parliamentary democracy and the people,” said Naidu. He said “let us not be a party to this House becoming a ‘clog in the wheel of progress’”. Instead, the members “should dispel the fears” expressed by Nehru, who despite having reservations about the utility of the Upper House, had supported its coming into being.