The opposition attacking the ruling party is not a new thing. There is complete freedom for this in democracy. But, the opposition’s uncontrolled uproar in the legislative houses is neither in the parliamentary tradition nor is its legal arrangement recorded in the Constitution. However, the arrangement to deal with such a situation is definitely recorded in the rules of functioning of the legislative houses. There is a protocol for the conduct of every member in the house. The chief speaker or chairman of the house has the right to give the opportunity to the member to speak, to put forth his point. There is absolutely no freedom to interrupt or create a ruckus in between. After independence, this decorum was definitely followed till the seventies, but after that the situation changed. Speaking or behaving against the speaker’s wish became a pastime of the opposition parties. The opposition has limited its role to raising unnecessary questions and creating a ruckus on every work or decision of the ruling party. The situation of ruckus in the Bihar Assembly has been going on for three days. The opposition is seen in the same style in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The opposition does not seem to have any concern with important legislative work. This is not happening for the first time. To be honest, such acts of the opposition have now become a common thing in legislative houses. The proceedings are telecast live. This also brings to the people such things which the speaker or the chairman removes from the proceedings of the house.
The opposition has taken the uproar as a right
The surprising thing is that the party or coalition which is in power does not like the ruckus created by the opposition. But when the same party or coalition sits in the opposition, it considers it as its duty. In the year 2011, BJP was in the opposition. Even then, ruckus was common in both the houses of the Parliament. Sushma Swaraj would lead the ruckus in the Lok Sabha and Arun Jaitley would take charge in the Rajya Sabha. Arun Jaitley had justified it on 30 January 2011 in Ranchi by saying that obstructing the proceedings of the Parliament is in favour of democracy. It is not right to call parliamentary obstruction undemocratic. Now when the Congress and its allies are behaving the same in the Parliament, then who should be blamed and who should be given a clean chit!
There was uproar from the assembly to the parliament
There has been a ruckus in the Bihar Assembly for the last three days. After the Center refused to give special status to Bihar, the parties of India Block started a ruckus. Now it is stuck on the budget. On Thursday, the situation worsened so much that the proceedings of both the houses of the legislature had to be adjourned. In the assembly, the opposition MLAs came to the well and started overturning the tables. Seeing the situation arising from this, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar got up and left. The same is happening in Parliament. The opposition is very angry about the general budget. The opposition has been aggressive since day one. The day after the budget announcement, the opposition protested outside the Parliament accusing the government of bias against the states and created a ruckus inside. Speaker Om Birla kept warning the ruckus-makers. It does not seem to have any effect on the health of the opposition.
When the PM had to apologize
Seeing the condition of the legislative houses, one is reminded of the role of Sardar Hukam Singh, who was the speaker of the Lok Sabha for nine consecutive years. Hukam Singh had joined the Congress after the Akali Dal merged with the Congress. He was considered a trusted person of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The Akali Dal later separated, but Hukam Singh remained in the Congress. Anyway, while Hukam Singh was the speaker, an incident happened in the Lok Sabha on 24 March 1966, which people might have forgotten. Perhaps this incident would be recorded in the documents of the Parliament. However, this news was definitely published in the newspapers in those days. What happened was that on that day when the speaker was standing and speaking something in the Lok Sabha, without caring about it, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi suddenly left the House. The rule says that when the speaker is speaking, no member can get up and go out during that time. But, Indira Gandhi did so. When the speaker reprimanded her for this citing the rules, she expressed her ignorance about it. Indira Gandhi had to apologize to the speaker for this minor disrespect. Then the Prime Minister also had to follow parliamentary traditions and rules like a common member. In recent years, opposition leaders have violated the rules and traditions the most. Despite the repeated requests of the Speaker, how the opposition MPs behave becomes clear only by watching the live telecast of the proceedings.
Speaker Sardar Hukum Singh remembered
Now let us know about Sardar Hukum Singh. As a speaker, Hukum Singh always tried to maintain the decorum and discipline of the House. As long as he was the speaker, he kept the ideals of the legislature intact. Hukum Singh’s name is at the top among those few speakers who are discussed without any party malice. If a member spoke uninvited while he was the speaker, he would not pay any attention to it. His strictness was such that if someone continued to speak despite this, he would not give him a chance to speak in the future. Once the speaker stood up to give order, no one had the courage to interrupt him or create an obstruction. Looking at today’s situation, the erosion of parliamentary decorum can be estimated. During Hukum Singh’s time, the member who created an obstruction in the proceedings of the House knew the consequences. The speaker would ignore him in the next session. However, the members of that time also refrained from the kind of conduct that they do today. Indira Gandhi’s regret is a vivid example of this.
Karanjia was sentenced to stand
There is another example of Sardar Hukum Singh’s strictness during his tenure as Speaker. Once a news was published in the then widely circulated weekly ‘Blitz’. The owner and editor of ‘Blitz’ was RK Karanjia. There was a case of violation of the privilege of the House against him. Hukum Singh gave him a notice to appear in the Lok Sabha. When Karanjia came for appearance, he saw that a dock had been made for him in front of the Speaker’s chair in the House. Karanjia was made to stand in that dock. The Speaker read out the charges against him. Karanjia also accepted those charges. The Speaker sentenced him. He was punished to remain standing in the dock till the end of the session.
Tags: Bihar Vidhan Sabha, budget session, Indira Gandhi, Parliament session
FIRST PUBLISHED : July 26, 2024, 05:49 IST