The duration of the Parliament sessions has reduced and the sessions are not even running, in such a situation serious questions are being raised on the parliamentary democracy.

The all-party meeting may have agreed for smooth functioning of both the Houses in the Monsoon session, but according to the experience so far, this session is bound to be stormy. To give a tough fight to the Bharatiya Janata Party, the opposition has announced a new alliance named ‘Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (India)’. The leaders of the new alliance have made preparations to surround the government in the monsoon session of Parliament. As if the opposition parties have taken a vow that they will not allow this session to run smoothly. The monsoon session began on July 20 and will end on August 11. A total of 17 sittings of both the Houses of the Parliament have been held during this period. On one hand, while the ruling party is trying to pass important bills, on the other hand, the opposition is engaged in demanding setting up of JPC on Manipur violence, rail safety, price rise, Uniform Civil Code and Adani case. He is trying to corner the government on many other issues as well. In such a situation, the role of the opposition is expected to be of correct and positive discharge of its duties and responsibilities towards the country and the government.

For the past few years, we are seeing how the sessions of the Parliament are getting shorter and shorter and the Parliament hardly sits for 55 or 56 days in a year and in that too, instead of meaningful discussions, there is a barrage of accusations and counter-allegations between the ruling and opposition camps and there is a lot of noise and meetings are adjourned again and again. The aggressive stand and ruckus of the opposition is not appropriate. He should improve his image. Like every time, this time too, if the parliamentary obstruction persists, then democracy will only be weakened by it. In a democracy, measures like parliamentary obstruction cannot solve any problem. If today’s party and opposition leadership remains ignorant of the knowledge of this fundamental truth and principle, then it only shows the lack of our democratic journey so far. This situation is harmful for the country, it should be a priority to save the monsoon session from the dark shadow of this unfortunate situation.

India is the largest democracy in the parliamentary system in the whole world and yet the condition of its parliament has become such that the House does not function at all. Hardly nine months are now left for the completion of the term of the 17th Lok Sabha. It is necessary that the opposition should come forward in an effective role during this period. Anyway, the opposition has the first right on the parliament because it is in the minority but represents the same public which is represented by the ruling party of the majority. Therefore, it becomes the moral duty of the ruling party to have a detailed discussion on the issues and topics raised by the opposition. But we have been seeing that in the last session, the way one bill after the other was passed without discussion in both the Houses of the Parliament amid much hue and cry, even the budget for the current financial year was passed by voice vote without any discussion. These are initiatives to blur the democratic process.

The tentative list of government business during the monsoon session includes 31 new bills to be introduced or passed. The Delhi National Capital Territory Government Amendment Bill 2023 has also been added to this. This Bill will be introduced to replace the relevant Ordinance. The Aam Aadmi Party is targeting the government regarding this matter. We are making a grave mistake because we are trying to make irrelevant the very Parliament under whose shadow the entire governance of this country is run and in which the representatives of the general public sit and take the responsibility of running it by taking power from the common people and make policies to improve the standard of living of every section of the people of this country. Under the Indian Constitution, the Parliament has been considered as sovereign in such a way that it also has the right to make new laws, provided those laws meet the criteria of the constitution and public expectations. The role of the opposition is more than the ruling party in passing these laws, but we saw in the last session that the opposition MPs did not allow the Parliament to function by boycotting or obstructing it and the entire session went in vain.

It is the responsibility of both the party and the opposition that the Manasutra session should not go in vain. Important bills are to be presented in this session, in such a situation cooperation of all is very important. All parties have to help run the session. The main function of the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs is to conduct parliamentary work in a normal manner by maintaining dialogue with the opposition. But along with this, it is also the responsibility of the Speakers of both the Houses to try to get cooperation and sympathy from the leaders of various political parties, from the Parliamentary Business Advisory Committees, to run the proceedings of the Parliament. But as there has been a positive change in the physical condition of the country with the expansion of democracy, it must have been in the imagination that progress and superiority will come in the level of intellectuality and style of expression. But the reality is quite different from this. There has been a decline in both the style and substance of the debate. Parliamentary debates are becoming more effective in reducing the creativity of its listeners and viewers. This is the reason why light, ludicrous, sarcastic and abusive debates and uproar, which in short can be called unlimited and unparliamentary, which tarnishes the dignity of democracy, the emergence of these situations is a matter of concern.

If we try to avoid meaningful debate or constructive discussion in the Parliament, then the message that will go to the general public about the people’s representatives will not be in favor of the dignity of the Parliament, because after every five years, the candidate of every party gets votes only by making big promises to the public, saying that he will reach the Lok Sabha and discuss about the sufferings and pains of the general public and will contribute in the formulation of the nation’s policies. But every MP should be ready to make this contribution and their parties should also play this role. Parliamentary obstruction is not a democratic way, every moment we lose the invaluable wealth and time-wealth of the country, which are difficult to compensate. Along with this, political values, brotherhood, harmony, loyalty to democracy, faith, compassion i.e. life values ​​are also being lost.

The opposition should discuss meaningfully without resorting to ruckus, there should be national interest in the voices of its protest, whereas at present it is self-interest. Both the party and the opposition should keep in mind that in our democracy, the sessions of the Parliament are not a ceremony, but they are an intimate system of the administrative system of our country-building. Parliament is not only a place of debate, but it is the highest platform for taking decisions in public interest and national interest. There is a question that if the bill has to be passed only by voice vote without any debate, then what will be the relevance of the Parliament?

-Lalit Garg

(The author is a senior journalist and columnist)