We adopted the Parliamentary system of government from the British. The Indian parliament has two houses; Loksabha, known as the lower is for an elected member of the Loksabha. The second House is the Rajya Sabha, which is an upper house of parliament and consists of Rajya Sabha MPs and the Vice president of India as a Rajya Sabha speaker. Though In theory, we are a parliamentary democracy, we are a cabinet democracy in practice where most of the power is concentrated in the hands of the cabinet.
Most of the legislative businesses are dominated by the cabinet. It’s the cabinet which decides the summoning of the house and it also clears the bills that are introduced by a minister in parliament. It’s the cabinet on whose advice, the President promulgates the ordinances which are business of the Parliament.
There is a Parliamentary Committee which overlooks the groundwork of the entire Parliament. It scrutinises legislative proposals initiated by a ministry, demands for grants, annual reports, and long-term policy documents presented to Parliament. Standing committees are constituted regularly as per rules while ad-hoc committees cease to exist once their purpose is achieved. Consultative committees are NOT parliamentary committees. Examples of ad-hoc committees include Inquiry and Advisory Committees. Inquiry committees like Joint Parliamentary Committees in Bofors, Stock Market scam, Pesticides issue, 2G and VVIP Chopper scam. Standing committees examples include 3 Financial Committees, 24 department-related standing committees, Committees on day-to-day activities, on service, etc.
In the Keshvnanda Bharati case, the Supreme Court introduced the concept of the “Basic structure of the constitution” which limits the powers of the Parliament. Later in case of the Menaka Gandhi, Supreme Court shift to the principal of the “Due process of law” from the “Procedure establish by law”. This empowers the Judiciary to widen the interpretation of the constitutional provisions which is actually the function of the parliament.
A new parliamentarian must learn from the matured democracy and adopt good practices just like makers of the constitution did. They handed the Constitution to future leaders. But in the current era, some MPs don’t know what the preamble of the Constitution entails and what its importance is. In my opinion, it does not matter whether every MP is literate but it should be compulsory for a person who becomes an MP to learn about the Constitution. They should provide a proper workshop.
Indian society is, in general, becoming restless and frequently resorting to street violence or mob-justice. When they see parliamentarians doing the same in the parliament they accept it as a norm rather than an aberration.
MPs Are A Reflection Of Our Society
The MPs are a reflection of our society – when the society which is the base is abdicating democratic values- the superstructure will naturally be undemocratic. A lot of introspection is required to revert the scheme of things and make the parliament a place of debate and discussion not one of logjam and disruption.
The chanting of slogans during the oath-taking ceremony was very disappointing. As a citizen, I was thinking, what will these MPs do in the next five years? What kind of policies will they make for India? It is a big question.
BJP MPs started chanting Jai Shri Ram in the House. Everybody knows they are in the majority. It was like they were on the street or on the road and chanting anything after winning the election. This drama increased when Owaisi responded to “Jai Shri Ram” with “Jai Bheem”, “Jai Meem”, “Takbeer Allahu Akbar”, “Jai Hind”.
When Sonia Gandhi took her Oath, Jai Shri Ram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai slogans were raised as though to taunt her for taking her oath in Hindi, it seemed to me that the BJP felt their power forced her to take oath in Hindi. Was it a proud moment for the BJP?
Things became even more interesting when one TMC member countered with slogans like “Jai Hind”, “Jai Bengal”, “Jai Maa Durga”, and “Jai Mamata”.
Abu Taher Khan has taken his oath starting with his religious slogan “Bismillah, ar- Rahman, ar Rahim” and Ended with “Allahu Akbar”. Kakoli Ghosh chanted the slogan “Jai Kali Maa” in response to “Jai Shri Ram” and she shouted “Jai Hind”, “Jai Bangla”.
Uttar Pradesh MP, Devendra Singh began with “Om Namah Shivaya”, Hema Malini ended her oath as “Radhe Radhe”, BJP MPs were ending their oath with “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”, Shyam Singh Yadav from BSP concluded his oath with “Jai Bheem”, “Jai Bharat” and “Jai Samajwadi”.
It Felt Like I Was Watching A Movie Where Actors Read A Script
The MP from Gorakhpur completed his oath in a dramatic way and ended with “Har Har Mahadev” and “Guru Gorakhnath ki Jai”. Bhagwant Maan, AAP MP chanted “Inquilab Zindabad”, CPI MP K Ubbarayan raised the slogan “Long live secularism”, “Long live India”.
It was childish behaviour from our country’s leaders and it seemed like the members were playing ‘revenge politics’ by countering each other’s slogans. While the slogans themselves may not be the concern because we have the right to freedom of expression in India, and the freedom to practise any religion, it was the taunting nature of the behaviour that was problematic. It insulted the decorum, protocol, and dignity of Parliament. If the culture of the sloganeering is continuously encouraged then it will result only in the divide between religions, castes, and regions. This will result in reducing the efficiency and effectiveness of Parliament. However, poor and disruptive functioning of the Parliament due to various political gimmicks raises the fear among citizens that Parliamentary functioning might lose credibility.
Parliament paves an opportunity for deliberation, discussion and dissent for the matters of public importance not for disruption for a party or for a personal gain. Party members should respect themselves because they are not individuals rather they carry the aims and aspirations of lakh of people of their constituency and the country as a whole. There is no proper opposition in the Loksabha but the majority party should respect its members because they were also elected by the people.
As Prime Minister Modi also said, there will be no ‘Paksh’ and ‘Vipaksh’. If he implements his words then the next five years might see the rise of effective development. Otherwise, we may continue to hear the criticisms of the Nehru regime and ‘name-changing’ politics.
Those who cause disruptions in parliament must understand that chaos hurts the people who were sent to represent the citizens of this country in the ‘temple of democracy’.
What Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary said today is, “Jab Mullah ko Masjid Mei Ram Nazar Aaye, Jab pujari ko Mandir mei Rahmaan Nazar Aaye, Dunia Badal Jayegi jab Insaan ko Insaan mei Insaan Nazar Aaye” very important for Indian Democracy. Parliament is the keystone for modern democracy. For parliament to work effectively and meaningfully members must behave ethically. Therefore an ethical framework needs greater attention in the 17th LokSabha.