Advanced and ideal values ​​should be adopted during the new parliamentary journey

Today, the eighth special session in Indian parliamentary history began in Parliament. Historically, special sessions have usually been called to commemorate important legislative or national events. So far, seven special sessions of Parliament have been called in parliamentary history, out of which three such sessions were called when the country was celebrating historical achievements. Special sessions were organized twice to impose President’s rule, in 1977 in Tamil Nadu and Nagaland and in 1991 in Haryana. This time a special session has been called mainly to discuss the 75 years of parliamentary journey. This time the special session should be held to present the best form of parliamentary tradition, enhance its excellence and make it an advanced ideal, not only this topic should be discussed seriously, but there should also be reflection and meditation on it. Because it cannot be denied that the working methods in Parliament have declined in the last few years.

Instead of being uproarious, indecent and indisciplined like other sessions, the special session of the world’s largest democracy should become a medium for meaningful debate on how our parliamentary functioning should become inspiring and the carrier of democratic values. There should also be reflection and meditation on how parliamentary proceedings should be conducted in a dignified manner, without political insistence and prejudice. There have been rare occasions when any meaningful discussion has taken place in Parliament. Therefore, it would be appropriate that instead of mindlessly expressing opposition to the bills proposed by the government in this session, the opposition parties should be prepared for a healthy debate. This can happen only if instead of introducing negativity, a positive mindset is adopted in reacting after seeing the outline of the bills.

Certainly, to make the golden age of the Indian Parliament, a roadmap should be prepared to remove those shortcomings and inconsistencies along with discussion on the achievements and continuously increasing shortcomings of the 75 years of Parliament and independence. We should be ready to unanimously adopt advanced and ideal values ​​for the new parliamentary journey by making the achievements, experiences, memories, shortcomings and lessons learned from the parliamentary journey so far a medium of discussion. It is unfortunate that even in Parliament, politics of opposition for the sake of opposition is seen more. The opposition parties spend more energy in raising slogans, showing placards with slogans, reaching the Speaker’s side and creating ruckus than in discussing in the Parliament. This has been happening continuously in the last few years and due to this, there have been many sessions when no significant work could be done.

A total of 8 bills have been listed for discussion and passing during this special session running from September 18 to September 22. Prominent among these are the Bill-2023 regarding the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners, their conditions of service and tenure, the Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill, and the Post Office Bill. The first day of proceedings of this special session will be held in the old Parliament House and the remaining four days in the new Parliament House. Another feature of this session is that there will be a group photo of all the MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the second day on Tuesday morning. There is also a possibility that this could be the last session of the current Parliament and the government may conduct Lok Sabha elections before time.

The criterion of success in democracy is that the proceedings of the Parliament should be conducted smoothly. But even before the start of the special session of Parliament, Congress has given indications of negative politics. Because this is an example of the negative politics of the Congress that in the all-party meeting it was said by the Congress that the issue of the situation in Manipur will also be raised in the special session. While the government had agreed several times to discuss this topic in the last session of Parliament and during the debate on the no-confidence motion, the Prime Minister and the Home Minister had also answered the opposition’s questions, then this issue was raised in the special session. There is no justification for this. Such insistence and prejudice of Congress and opposition parties is not a new thing. But it is unfortunate that Congress and the opposition have decided to create a ruckus in this special session. As far as raising issues like inflation, unemployment, China border, terrorism, cleanliness of elections and demanding answers from the government on these issues is concerned, it is a sign of a healthy and conscious democracy. But on the basis of these or other issues, where there are conditions to disrupt the proceedings of the Parliament, it is undemocratic and indecent.

It is expected that the special session will be an example of developing understanding with democratic compromise. In the special session called to discuss the parliamentary journey in the golden age of independence, instead of blindly opposing every step of the government, there should be extensive discussion on issues of national importance and parliamentary dignity, so that the country gets some direction. It is possible that development work can gain momentum, but instead of this, it is not justified to have more allegations and counter-allegations. Many times, a deadlock is created regarding this, which is a waste of precious time of the Parliament. In the current environment, it will be difficult for the government to refuse discussion, but the opposition will also have to take care that by adopting a more aggressive stance, it is not limited to disrupting the proceedings of Parliament. When this happens, the basic spirit of democracy gets attacked. The opposition should take initiative and set an ideal example to create a cordial atmosphere and smoothly conduct the special session.

The Parliament of the country will have to take stock of the national situation in an impartial and positive manner and brainstorm on the provisions to provide relief to the people. Parliament is not only a place for debate between the opposition and the ruling party but is also the biggest platform for taking decisions in public interest. It is only through this that the accountability and responsibility of the ruling government is fixed and when necessary, accountability is also held, but it is also true that the narrow-mindedness and political selfishness of the ruling and the opposition also make this supreme democratic platform of the country helpless, which represents 140 crore people. Become helpless. It is difficult to say what will happen in the special session of Parliament, but it would be good if the political parties definitely make this special session ‘special’ in the interest of the country. If necessary, make the proceedings in the Parliament of those countries your model, where there is a slow, serious and meaningful debate on every topic. After all, why can’t debate be held in our country like the Parliament of America and Britain? It is true that opposition parties have the right to oppose any step and action of the government, but at least the possibilities of consensus politics should be explored in Parliament. Protest or aggression is beneficial only if it is for the national interest, on burning issues and to solve problems. Lokmanya Tilak has also said that – ‘Forgetting the differences and uniting all the parties for a specific work is the sign of a living nation.’ The most worrying topic in the field of politics today is opposition parties’ opposition to the ruling party. Situations like disrupting parliamentary proceedings and creating a molehill to weaken the ruling party make the country’s environment polluted, toxic and confused.

-Lalit Garg

(The author is an independent journalist and columnist)