The Rajya Sabha on Monday paid tributes to architects of the Constitution saying it has stood the test of time with Leader of the House Piyush Goyal stating Parliament upholds democracy. Highlighting the contribution of Congress in laying the foundation of Constitution, the party claimed the ruling BJP combine was harassing the Opposition by using agencies like the Enforcement Directorate an Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI).
Opposition members also hit out at the Government, accusing it of indulging in majoritarianism and defying the tenets of parliamentary democracy.
Various political parties including the BJP, Congress and others also called for passing the women’s reservation bill while discussing the the “Parliamentary Journey of 75 Years Starting from Samvidhan Sabha -- Achievements, Experiences, Memories and Learnings” on the first day of the five-day special session.
Initiating the discussion, Goyal underlined the contributions made towards strengthening parliamentary democracy by various chairmen of the Upper House, including Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Zakir Husain, Shankar Dayal Sharma, Kocheril Raman Narayanan, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Mohammad Hamid Ansari, M Venkaiah Naidu and Dhankhar.
Goyal said the Rajya Sabha is a witness to enlightening debates and the House always functioned by evolving consensus despite difference of opinion. He urged the members to maintain decorum and uphold the dignity of the house.
He also said the Rajya Sabha has all along maintained the principle of agree to disagree despite difference of opinion and stressed the opposition’s role of keeping the government in check.
In his opening remarks in Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said the hallowed precincts of Parliament for years have witnessed highs and lows, which need to be reflected and deliberated upon so as to take the country to its rightful place in 2047, when it celebrates the centenary of its independence.
“The honourable members’ use of wit, humour, sarcasm and even acerbic comments inside Parliament are an important, inalienable facet of a vigorous democracy. These days we do not get to hear such light-hearted exchanges. Hopefully, we will see the revival of wit, humour and scholarly debates,” the Chairman said.
Meanwhile, Goyal said while the elected MPs have made big contributions to strengthen democracy, the nominated Rajya Sabha members have also given their best.
Leader of the House also recalled the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, the process for which started in the Upper House. The legislations concerning “triple talaq” and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) too figured prominently in his nearly 40-minute speech.
While most of Goyal’s speech focused on the achievements of the 75-year journey of India’s parliamentary democracy and the last nine years of the Narendra Modi government, he also highlighted certain memories, such as Emergency, the 2001 Parliament terror attack, the cash-for-votes scam and the parliamentary proceedings associated with the creation of the state of Telangana. He said India showed democracy is invincible after the terror attack on Parliament.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader noted that the opposition has a key role to play in keeping the government in check and said Parliament is an institution to keep democracy alive. Goyal called upon the Members of Parliament to work towards women empowerment and making India a corruption-free, developed country.
Starting his speech, Leader of Opposition and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge requested the chairman to revoke the suspension of two Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members -- Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha -- at a time when the House is holding the session and moving into the new Parliament building.
Kharge said constitution is the bedrock of Indian democracy and highlighted the role of his party in laying the sound foundation for it. He then quipped the Congress worked to strengthen democratic institutions over 70 years and have an inclusive society. The Congress leader also said constitution provided for adult franchise.
Claiming that the ruling BJP combine was targeting Opposition by using investigative agencies like the Enforcement Directorate(ED), Kharge charged the government was trying to weaken the strong opposition through these means.
He asked the government what did it achieve by shifting the parliamentary proceedings to a new building. “Badalna hai to halat badlo, aise naam badalne se kya hota hai. Dena hein to yuva ko rozgar do, sab ko berozgar karke kya hota hai. Dil ko thoda bada karke dekho, logon ko marne se kya hota hai. Kuch kar nahi sakte ho, kursi chor do, baat baat mein darane se kya hota hai.
“Apni hukumrani par guroor hai, logon ko darane se dhamkane se kya hota hai. Badalna hai to halat badlo, aise naam badalne se kya hota hai. Yahan se wahan jane mein kya aur honewala hai,” the Congress leader said.
He took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he rarely participates in the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha adding erstwhile Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru always honoured difference of opinion and the role of the opposition.
Kharge said former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave 21 speeches in the House during his term, while Manmohan Singh gave about 30 speeches. “The current prime minister spoke only twice, leaving aside the customary speeches, in the last nine years.” he added.
The Congress leader urged the government to address issues like rising unemployment and inflation warning joblessness poses danger to democracy. He also questioned Prime Minister Modi’s silence on Manipur. Kharge said the Prime Minister is yet to visit the north-eastern state witnessing turmoil for the last three months or so.
Kharge also expressed concern over the passage of several bills in a manner faster than the “bullet train”, without referring to parliamentary standing committees. He urged the government to bring Women Reservation Bill in the parliament and said “Women Reservation Bill should come. We all tried. This issue if you (Chair) raise then they will.”
Kharge highlighted the small numbers of women lawmakers in parliament, saying they constituted only 14 per cent in both houses combined, while their number in legislative assemblies is just 10 per cent. The proportion of women MPs was just five per cent in first Lok Sabha in 1952.
Kharge told the House that the proportion of women members had risen to 28 per cent from two per cent in the US Parliament while in Britain, it jumped to 33 per cent from three per cent.
Ram Nath Thakur of JD(U) too demanded reservation for women when the lawmakers shift to the new parliament building and also demanded a special session to discuss rising inflation and remedy for it.
Taking part in the discussion, Manoj Kumar Jha(RJD) quoted the chief architect of the Constitution B R Ambedkar and said democracy also meant “preventing tyranny of the majority”.
There is a need for a majority as governments cannot run without a majority but there is a “difference between majority and majoritarianism”, he added.
Jose K Mani (KC(M) said, “It is an undeniable fact (that) recent years have witnessed instances of undemocratic parliamentary methods and procedures, which threatened the very essence of democracy.”
Tiruchi Siva (DMK) claimed that the space for the opposition is shrinking. “There has been a decline in the ability of Parliament to hold the government accountable... The government resorts to ordinances rather than legislation,” he said.
S Niranjan Reddy(YSRCP) said as Parliament is moving to a new building, there is concern among south Indian states. “South Indian states, the more developed Indian states, are feeling that will they be outnumbered because Article 82 gives protection until 2026. Would that be balanced in some manner? We will debate it,” he said.
Article 82 deals with the number of seats allotted to the House of People.
John Brittas(CPM)said according to Ambedkar, democracy is not the law of the majority but the protection of the minority. He alleged that the current government was flouting the tenets of parliamentary democracy of the accountability of the executive to the legislator.
The NCP’s Praful Patel, BJP’s Bhubaneswar Kalita, AGP’s Birendra Prasad Baishya, TMC’s Md Nadimul Haque, Congress’ Shaktisinh Gohil and Rajiv Shukla, AIADMK’s M Thambidurai, BRS’ K Keshava Rao, AAP’s Vikramjit Singh Sahney, BJD’s Mamata Mohanta and GK Vasan of the TMC(M) also took part in the discussion.