Legislatures fast surging into irrelevance, need to reclaim space: RS Chairman Dhankhar

Udaipur: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday said Parliament and legislatures have turned into "hotbeds of disturbance" and "fast surging into irrelevance", leaving the country in a "cliff-hanger-like" situation.

Addressing the valedictory session of the ninth India Region Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), he also cautioned against doling out of freebies by political parties and called on elected representatives to check such instances of misgovernance. Dhankhar said if parliamentarians, representatives of the people don't occupy public space in Parliament, other people will occupy it outside.

"The temples of democracy meant for dialogue, deliberation, debate and discussion are, these days, because of the legislators, representatives of people, hotbeds of disturbance and disruption," he said. The valedictory session of the two-day conference was attended by Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C P Joshi. The Rajya Sabha chairman said as a consequence Parliament and legislatures were fast surging into irrelevance. "Think within, when legislature meets, Parliament meets, who is bothered? What is the space occupied? What is the perception generated? Only disruption and disturbance or boycott for unruly conduct gets reported. This gruesome situation ill augurs for democratic values," he said.

Dhankhar's remarks come against the backdrop of the near wash-out of the monsoon session of Parliament earlier this month when crucial bills were passed by both the Houses amid repeated protests and disruption by opposition parties over the situation in Manipur. Quoting B R Ambedkar, he said Parliament will be treated by people outside with "utter contempt" if parliamentarians do not realise their responsibility towards public welfare. "We are now faced with grim reality. Let us all pledge to be alive to these prophetic concerns by the Architect of the Constitution and retrieve the cliff hanging situation. We are clinging.

We are about to lose grip. If parliamentarians, representatives of the people don't occupy public space in Parliament, other people will occupy outside," he said. "In any democracy, parliamentary sovereignty is invaluable of organs – executive, judiciary and legislature. We have made legislatures vulnerable because we have refused to vindicate our oath. We have not focused on our duties. We have taken out job lightly," he said at the Conference attended by presiding officers of assemblies and councils from across the country. "Parliament alone is the repository of the will of the people through its public representatives. But we are damaging our spine.

I call up on every legislator to think within and reason out with your party. You cannot act in a manner that will damage your spine. You will be bedridden," Dhankhar said. He said elected representatives walk away from their responsibilities when they "walk out of Parliamentary theatre" when laws are made. Dhankhar said it was the paramount role of public representatives to ensure executive accountability and fiscal discipline in governance. "Surely, we can. Surely, we must. Surely that is the obligation of our oath. But that unfortunately is not happening," the vice president said.