Houses in chaos as lawmakers stoop low

Disturbances in Parliament and State Assemblies have become order of the day. The legislative bodies which were seen as places of decency and decorum seem to be losing that tag. The members most often forget that there are certain rules and procedures to be followed for every act of theirs.

They forget that the legislative bodies are places where an issue should be thoroughly discussed, and a consensus should be arrived at.

While the ruling party wants to bull doze all its decisions come what may and refuses to give even a reasonable consideration to what the Opposition has to say, the Opposition parties are becoming virtually crying babies and are losing connect with the people at the ground level.

There are any number of instances when ruling parties whether at the Centre or in States lost elections and were in Opposition for decades but never did they lose their importance nor did they feel so helpless as the present day Opposition parties feel.

The ruling parties, despite having absolute majority, never treated the Opposition as enemies. They used to give due respect to their proposals for discussions and the Opposition too always tried to analyse and point out the shortcomings of the Bills introduced by the government or other issues that came up before them for discussion.

But today, there is absolute change in the attitude of ruling parties. We are witnessing scenes like Ministers climbing on tables and obstructing the presiding officers from discharging their duties.

The recent such incident was in Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council. Members are also using unprintable language irrespective of the parties they belong to.

In Telangana, we have seen even the leader of the House criticising the Opposition members in a very sarcastic manner. A word from the Opposition benches and the ruling party members pounce on the Opposition and want to silence them, blame them for everything and try to paint as if only the TRS had brought a complete turnaround.

Yes, it is a fact that Telangana did suffer before it became a State. It is a fact that injustice was done to the region. But it is wrong to say that no development took place in the region.

The first address to the joint sitting by Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan gives an impression that all successive governments killed Telangana in the last 60 years and it had risen from ashes since 2014. If that were so, how did the 29th State have surplus budget?

Yes, there is uninterrupted power in Telangana. But then the fact is now that there is a national grid connected to all parts of the country, one can purchase power from wherever it is available unlike in the past. Secondly, UP which was the worst affected in terms of power also is now getting almost uninterrupted power.

This kind of statements is not unique to Telangana. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been saying that it was the previous governments particularly the Congress which was in power for six decades responsible for all the ills. They did nothing etc… But then all these leaders in responsible positions and enjoying public support should give the devil its due. They did a lot and that is for everyone to see.

Magnanimity comes in when one recognises what the predecessors had done and try to do 100 times better than that. For example, the NDA government keeps talking about how effectively they have been tackling Pakistan. But then let us not forget that in the past too even when we did not have the kind of advanced weapons as we have now, India had taught a befitting lesson to Pakistan twice.

Refusal of acknowledging whatever little the previous governments have done may be due to lack of opportunities and resources or due to lack of vision is leading to self-aggrandisement.

The Opposition which should know how to defend its acts and react to present omissions and commissions of the government are, for reasons best known to them, not playing their role properly.

Once they lose elections, they are losing contact with the people. They feel that the only way to get into limelight is create ruckus in legislatures or Parliament. This tendency is spreading faster than coronavirus.

A stage has come where even the presiding officer is not being respected. Seven Congress MPs have been suspended from the Lok Sabha for the remaining period of the ongoing Budget session because the MPs snatched papers from the Speaker's table and utter disregard for House rules. The big question is why they behave like that.

Is it because they have no arsenal in terms of information to put the government on mat or they feel that they have immunity to everything. If this is how lawmakers behave, how can the society be expected to respect the laws they make.

Gone are the days when the honourable members used to spend lot of time in studying the subject and prepare for discussions and debates. Now they are given the party line and all members whether they be the ruling party members or Opposition, keep repeating the same points. Forget about issues, they don't even seem to be reading the rule book properly.

The office of the Speaker occupies a pivotal position in our parliamentary democracy. While the Members of Parliament represent the individual constituencies, the Speaker represents the full authority of the House itself.

In the words of John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons who was in the job for ten years, "Speakers role is similar to a referee. But then the member think they know better than the referee."

The Speaker symbolises the dignity and power of the House over which he is presiding. Therefore, it is expected that the holder of this office of high dignity has to be one who can represent the House in all its manifestations.

The responsibility entrusted to the Speaker is so onerous one. The Speaker was till recently looked upon as the true guardian of the traditions of parliamentary democracy.

But now the Speakers whether in Parliament of State Assemblies do not resign from the membership of the political party on whose ticket they have been elected. Naturally they are under pressure from the ruling party to see that their word prevails.

Not just that the latest trend witnessed in Andhra Pradesh was that the Speaker claiming that he would play the role of a party worker when in constituency. We have also heard him making certain sharp comments on the leader of Opposition, something which was never done by any of his predecessor.

When the attitudes and perceptions of regarding the role of presiding officers are taking such changes, there is nothing surprising in the members giving vent to their anger in the manner in which they are doing.

Its time the leaders of all political parties give up their ego and sit together and see that the old glory is restored.