The Monsoon session of the Parliament kicked off with showers in the Capital. The weather turned pleasant on the outside, but it was quite the opposite inside the Parliament. The session started off soon after the revamp in the Council of Ministers. From Day 1, the parliamentarians have been unparliamentary. If we look at the highlights of the day, it was more of adjournment than discussion. In both houses, the Prime Minister could not introduce his Council of Ministers verbally with the Opposition protesting. This is not the first time when such situations have arisen, however, during unprecedented times, it is definitely unprecedented behaviour.
In order to have a better view, let’s have a background of recent events. The Government saw an overhaul with new faces coming in and some familiar faces being dropped. A complete overhaul was seen in Ministries such as Health and Education, there are indications of poor performance. With over 100 days of farmer protests in Delhi, the government again repeated the proposal to talks, with alternatives apart from repealing the laws. The Health Ministry is already under pressure due to the pandemic and with a third wave predicted, the new minister becomes the most important member in the Cabinet. The IT minister resigned as well and interestingly one day before the session, a Pegasus report was released by The Wire. The report alleges spying on key people including the new IT Minister, Opposition leaders and Journalists. Pegasus has also said that it only works for governments and not private agencies.
Before the sessions started, protests outside the buildings started. While the TMC used cycles to reach the Parliament to protest against rising in fuel hikes, the Akali Dal used posters to protest against the farm laws. The Opposition started disrupting the flow from the very beginning, remaining silent only when new members took an oath and when death obituaries were being read out. Later, the IT minister did give a statement about Pegasus on the same day but as usual, the Opposition was dissatisfied. As mentioned earlier, the Prime Minister couldn’t speak much in the Parliament, however, he did give a statement outside the Parliament building, holding an umbrella. On the days that followed, protests in the house and adjournments were common elements. Outside the Parliament, the Trinamool Congress used old generation Telephones to protest against the response to the Pegasus surveillance. Leader of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi, had a tractor ride to the Parliament on the first day of the 2nd week. However they behave, the parliamentarians, on both sides, have truly become innovative in terms of statements and protests.
31 Business items have been listed for the Monsoon Session, however, the Rajya Sabha among the ruckus has only been able to deal with a 4-hour discussion on the handling of Covid with a 1-hour reply by the Health Ministry. Moreover, a TMC MP in the Rajya Sabha went on to snatch papers from the hands of the IT Minister while he was addressing the House on the Pegasus snooping. The MP went on to tear the papers in the house and was later suspended. The Vice President of India, who serves as the ex-officio chairman of the Upper House, said he was deeply distressed and asked the members to not test his patience.
In spite of so many changes in the Parliament such as new Ministers and Covid restrictions, there are a few constants that still remain. The Gandhi Statue still remains the favourite location for protests outside the house. Demands of the resignation of the Home Minister by the opposition in light of Pegasus is another constant. Statements are still being made outside the Parliament at various locations including Vijay Chowk and Jantar Mantar. Suspensions of MPs from the house after unruly behaviour. People may disagree on the level, comparing it with the behaviour during the debate to revoke Article 370. MPs have entered the well of the House as well. Multiple suspension of business notices has been introduced as well. Apart from Business items, there are other events that are pending. Walkouts have not made an appearance yet. The questions during the Question Hour have had fewer appearances, with Lok Sabha being adjourned after 6 minutes of business on some days.
The question that arises is that does India want to move into the 75th year of Independence with a dysfunctional Parliament. The Vice President wishes that it does not happen that way. An All India Political Party Meet had been called before the session with emphasis on discussion. If the houses keep getting adjourned, how will there be discussion? How will the world’s largest democracy go ahead if the central legislature does not work? We do not know, we have been seeing it work and bring radical changes. With over one week of disruptions, a common citizen would surely want to ask these questions, but probably he is hopeless and struck by one of the many problems in India.
To move ahead, the respected members of the Parliament need to sit back, take a moment of silence and introspect. They need to come over party lines to establish a business in the houses. We look back at the past to learn, shouldn’t we look back into the productive debates in the Constituent Assembly, where the Leader of the House has a debate with the President on a bill. Shouldn’t we look back at the debates under various governments, including the era of Shastri, to the dark era during the Emergency, to a time when the Leader of Opposition was sent to lead a delegation to UNHCR? We should look back and probably one would say that times have changed. India needs to grow and the only way out is to discuss, deliberate and come forward with better ways to take us out of the crisis at hand. The role of the Parliamentary Affairs Minister and the leaders of the parties have increased manifold, as they’re responsible along with the Presiding Officers for the conduct of business. To conclude, we should still remember what Vajpayee said in the Lok Sabha before resigning at the end of his 13-day stint as Prime Minister, ‘Governments will be formed and dissolved. The country should be constant.’